Has settled where they dwelt. The prairie-wolf 65 The platforms where they worshipped unknown gods; To keep the foe at bay, till o'er the walls 70 With corpses. The brown vultures of the wood The strongholds of the plain were forced and heaped Flocked to those vast uncovered sepulchres, And sat, unscared and silent, at their feast. Haply some solitary fugitive, Lurking in marsh and forest, till the sense Bitterer than death, yielded himself to die. Man's better nature triumphed then: kind words Still this great solitude is quick with life. Myriads of insects, gaudy as the flowers They flutter over, gentle quadrupeds, 105 And birds that scarce have learned the fear of man, Bounds to the wood at my approach. The bee, A more adventurous colonist than man, 1832. Within the hollow oak. I listen long To his domestic hum, and think I hear 115 The sound of that advancing multitude Which soon shall fill these deserts: from the ground Comes up the laugh of children, the soft voice Of maidens, and the sweet and solemn hymn Of Sabbath worshippers; the low of herds A fresher wind sweeps by and breaks my dream, ROBERT OF LINCOLN Merrily swinging on brier and weed, Near to the nest of his little dame, Over the mountain-side or mead Robert of Lincoln is telling his name: "Bob-o'-link, bob-o'-link, Spink, spank, spink; Snug and safe is that nest of ours, Hidden among the summer flowers. Robert of Lincoln is gayly drest, 1833. Wearing a bright black wedding-coat; White are his shoulders and white his crest. Hear him call in his merry note: "Bob-o'-link, bob-o'-link, Spink, spank, spink; 120 5 ΙΟ 15 Look what a nice new coat is mine, Robert of Lincoln's Quaker wife, Pretty and quiet, with plain brown wings, Passing at home a patient life, Broods in the grass while her husband sings: Spink, spank, spink; 20 Spink, spank, spink; Nice good wife, that never goes out, Soon as the little ones chip the shell Gathering seeds for the hungry brood. Spink, spank, spink; This new life is likely to be Hard for a gay young fellow like me. 45 50 |