Page:Poems, Household Edition, Emerson, 1904.djvu/201

Rh I found no joy: the icy wind

Might rule the forest to his mind.

Who would freeze on frozen lakes?

Back to books and sheltered home,

And wood-fire flickering on the walls,

To hear, when, 'mid our talk and games,

Without the baffled North-wind calls.

But soft! a sultry morning breaks;

The ground-pines wash their rusty green,

The maple-tops their crimson tint,

On the soft path each track is seen,

The girl's foot leaves its neater print.

The pebble loosened from the frost

Asks of the urchin to be tost.

In flint and marble beats a heart,

The kind Earth takes her children's part,

The green lane is the school-boy's friend,

Low leaves his quarrel apprehend,

The fresh ground loves his top and ball,

The air rings jocund to his call,

The brimming brook invites a leap,

He dives the hollow, climbs the steep.

The youth sees omens where he goes,

And speaks all languages the rose,

The wood-fly mocks with tiny voice

The far halloo of human voice;

The perfumed berry on the spray

Smacks of faint memories far away.

A subtle chain of countless rings