Page:May-day and other pieces, Emerson, 1867.djvu/65

Rh And how we should come hither with our sons,

Hereafter,—willing they, and more adroit.

Hard fare, hard bed, and comic misery,—

The midge, the blue-fly, and the mosquito

Painted our necks, hands, ankles, with red bands:

But, on the second day, we heed them not,

Nay, we saluted them Auxiliaries,

Whom earlier we had chid with spiteful names.

For who defends our leafy tabernacle

From bold intrusion of the travelling crowd,—

Who but the midge, mosquito, and the fly,

Which past endurance sting the tender cit,

But which we learn to scatter with a smudge,

Or baffle by a veil, or slight by scorn?

Our foaming ale we drunk from hunters' pans,

Ale, and a sup of wine. Our steward gave

Venison and trout, potatoes, beans, wheat-bread;