Page:Pocahontas, and Other Poems.djvu/107

 VISIT TO THE BIRTH-PLACE. 91

Her infant rudiments. First day of school !

I well remember thee, just on the verge

Of my fourth summer. Every face around,

How wonderful and new ! The months mov'd on,

Majestically slow. Awe-struck, I mark'd

The solemn school-dame in her chair of state,

Much fearing lest her all-ohservant eye

Might note me wandering from my patch-work task,

Or spelling lesson. Yet that frigid realm

Some sunbeams boasted, whose delicious warmth

Lent nutriment to young ambition's germs.

" Head of the class ! " what music in that sound,

Link'd to my name ; and then, the crowning joy,

Homeward to bear, on shoulder neatly pinn'd,

The bow of crimson satin, rich reward

Of well-deserving, not too lightly won,

Or worn too meekly. Still ye need not scorn

Our humble training, ye of modern times,

Wiser and more accomplished. Learning's field,

Indeed, was circumscribed, but its few plants

Had such close pruning, and strict discipline,

As giveth healthful root, and hardy stalk,

Perchance, enduring fruit.

Beneath yon roof,

Our own no more, beneath my planted trees, Where unfamiliar faces now appear, She dwelt, whose hallow'd welcome was so dear ; O Mother, Mother ! all thy priceless love

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