Page:The Poets and Poetry of the West.djvu/100

 84 JOHN FINLEY. [1830-40, TO INDIANA. Blest Indiana ! in thj soil Are found the sure rewards of toil, Where harvest, purity and worth May make a paradise on earth. Yvlth feelings proud we contemplate The rising glory of our State ; Nor take offense by application Of its good-natured appellation. Our hardy yeomanry can smile At tourists of "the sea-girt Isle," Or wits who traveled at the gallop, Like Basil Hall, or Mrs. Trollope. 'Tis true among the crowds that roam, To seek for fortune or a home. It happens that we often find Empiricism of every kind. A strutting fop, who boasts of knowledge, Acquired at some far eastern college. Expects to take us by surprise. And dazzle our astonished eyes. He boasts of learning, skill and talents. Which in the scale, would Andes balance, Cuts widening swaths from day to day, And in a month he runs away. Not thus the honest son of toil, Who settles here to till the soil. And with intentions just and good. Acquires an ample livelihood ; He is (and not the little-great) The bone and sinew of the State. With six-horse team to one-horse cart. We hail them here from every part. And some you'U see, sans shoes or socks on. With snake-pole and a yoke of oxen : Others with pack-horse, dog and rifle. Make emigration quite a trifle. The emigrant is soon located — In Hoosier life initiated — Erects a cabin in the woods. Wherein he stows his household goods. At fli-st, round logs and clapboard roof, With puncheon floor, quite carpet-proof, And paper windows, oiled and neat. His edifice is then complete, When four clay balls, in form of plum- met. Adorn his wooden chimney's summit ; Ensconced in this, let those who can Find out a truly happier man. The Uttle youngsters rise around him. So numerous they quite astound him ; Each with an ax or wheel in hand. And instinct to subdue the land. Ere long the cabin disappears, A spacious mansion next he rears ; His fields seem widening by stealth. An index of increasing wealth ; And when the hives of Hoosiers sivarm, To each is given a noble farm. These ai-e the seedlings of the State, The stamina to make the great. THE HOOSIER'S NEST. I'm told, in riding somewhere West, A stranger found a Hoosier's nest, In other words, a Buckeye cabin. Just big enough to hold Queen Mab in. Its situation low, but airy, Was on the borders of a prairie ; And fearing he might be benighted, He hailed the house, and then alighted. The Hoosier met him at the door. Their salutations soon were o'er. He took the stranger's horse aside. And to a sturdy sappling tied; Then, having stripped the saddle off. He fed him in a sugar-trough. The stranger stooped to enter in. The entrance closing with a pin ; And manifested strong desire To sit down by the log-heap fire, Where half a dozen Hoosieroons, With mush and milk, tin-cups and spoons.