Helvellyn, or even a Parnassus, and the Muses haunt here, and other Homers frequent the neighboring plains,
Not unconcerned Wachusett rears his head
Above the field, so late from nature won,
With patient brow reserved, as one who read
New annals in the history of man.
The blue-berries which the mountain afforded, added to the milk we had brought, made our frugal supper, while for entertainment the even song of the wood-thrush rung along the ridge. Our eyes rested on no painted ceiling nor carpeted hall, but on skies of nature's painting, and hills and forests of her embroidery. Before sunset, we rambled along the ridge to the north, while a hawk soared still above us. It was a place where gods might wander, so solemn and solitary, and removed from all contagion with the plain. As the evening came on, the haze was condensed in vapor, and the landscape became more distinctly visible, and numerous sheets of water were brought to light.
Et jam summa procul villarum culmina fumant,
Majoresque cadunt altis de montibus umbræ.
And now the tops of the villas smoke afar off,
And the shadows fall longer from the high mountains.
As we stood on the stone tower while the sun was setting, we saw the shades of night creep
