Away through bending boughs, soft shadows through,
He speeds, nor pauses once to bid adieu,
Æolian vespers lead the listless strain
And tiny twiglets tune their lyres again,
To pensive musing every fancy goes
And Nature's ballads lull to sweet repose.
He speeds, nor pauses once to bid adieu,
Æolian vespers lead the listless strain
And tiny twiglets tune their lyres again,
To pensive musing every fancy goes
And Nature's ballads lull to sweet repose.
Beneath the tall tree's shade a cabin lone
Falls into ruin, while the ceaseless moan
Above its desolation shrieks and stirs
Chanted by hosts of princely conifers,
Around its lowly door rank verdure thrives,
The yerba buena fresh and green survives
The slow decay that dooms the cabin wall
Of which prophetic Nature chants the fall,
The wild wood oxalis in beauty spreads
Matting the doorway where no footsteps tread
And plants of every shade of emerald hue
Twist, twine and tangle all the door-yard through;
While busy chipmunks seek the hazel brush,
Where their blithe chattering breaks the slumbrous hush,
To gather hoards of nuts and gaily frisk,
O'er fallen redwood logs, graceful and brisk.
Falls into ruin, while the ceaseless moan
Above its desolation shrieks and stirs
Chanted by hosts of princely conifers,
Around its lowly door rank verdure thrives,
The yerba buena fresh and green survives
The slow decay that dooms the cabin wall
Of which prophetic Nature chants the fall,
The wild wood oxalis in beauty spreads
Matting the doorway where no footsteps tread
And plants of every shade of emerald hue
Twist, twine and tangle all the door-yard through;
While busy chipmunks seek the hazel brush,
Where their blithe chattering breaks the slumbrous hush,
To gather hoards of nuts and gaily frisk,
O'er fallen redwood logs, graceful and brisk.
But still the voices of the trees complain
And still the wandering winds sob forth the strain
Though the wild wind that rocks the giant trees
Trembles the low plants through, a summer breeze,
Queen of the West, what fortune gave to thee
Nature's sublimest, grandest orchestra?
And still the wandering winds sob forth the strain
Though the wild wind that rocks the giant trees
Trembles the low plants through, a summer breeze,
Queen of the West, what fortune gave to thee
Nature's sublimest, grandest orchestra?
[ 69 ]
