Page:Poems Crandall.djvu/46

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Haunted Valley
In a lone and rugged valley,
  Where the wild birds hover low,
Sing and swing among the sumacs,
  Nest where thick the berries grow;

Where surrounding banks stretch skyward,
  Till the tall trees ranged on high,
With their flowing locks of emerald,
  Brush the white clouds floating by;

Mother Nature folds a cottage
  Close against a sheltering hill,
Singing songs of love and wisdom
  To the music of the rill.

Blue jays, humming birds and robins,
  All the butterflies and bees,
Love the vine above the doorway;
  Love the shrubs and apple trees.

All is peace and all is beauty,
  But a chill strikes through the heart;
As from every rock and willow,
  Every door, pale spectres start.

And on roadway, stream and pasture,
  Up the slopes where mosses grow,
Up the steeps so bare and rocky
  Fitful shadows come and go.

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