III
IN OLD PONKAPOAG
Glimpses from a Study Window of Thomas Bailey Aldrich
The study where Thomas Bailey Aldrich wrote
some of his daintiest verse looks forth upon a
sweet valley. Down this valley prattle clear-eyed
brooks that meet and grow, and water lush meadows
filled with all lovely things of summer, while
low woods beyond set a dark green line against
the sunsets. Looking toward these of a day when
rosy mists tangle the sun's rays and anon let them
slip in arrow flight earthward, we have pictured
for us how
"We knew it would rain, for all the morn,
A spirit on slender ropes of mist
Was lowering its golden buckets down
Into the vapory amethyst."
Wherever written, this and a hundred other dainty things seem to flock into the tiny valley upon which he looked from the study window of
