Page:The Poets and Poetry of the West.djvu/302

 286 WILLIAM DANA EMERSON [1840-50. The tomahawk and arrow, The wigwam and the deer, Made up the red man's little world, Unknown to smile or tear ; The spire, the turret and the tree, Tiien mingled not their shades on thee. Now an hundred youthful cities Are gladdened by thy smile. And thy breezes sweetened through the fields, The husbandman beguile ; Those fields were planted by the brave, — Oh ! let not fraud come near their grave. Roll on, my own bright River, In loveliness sublime ; Through every season, every age, The favorite of Time I Would that my soul could with thee roam, Through the long centuries to come ! I have gazed upon thy beauty. Till my heart is wed to thee ; Teach it to flow o'er life's long plain. In tranquil majesty ; Its channel growing deep and wide — May Heaven's own sea receive its tide ! THE HILLS. Some pine for the verdured plain. Some long for the boundless sea ; And some for the mountain above the rain. But the hills, the hills for me! How bright is the swelling sail, As it mingles with the sky ! How rich the snow cap, resting pale On the peak where the breezes die ! Here from this blooming hill, The wave and the mount I see ; The plain and the river that winds at its will — The hills ! the hills ! for me. The hills fear not the storm ; Disease delights in the vale ; Here the head is cool, and the heart is warm — Hail to the green hills, hail ! WHO ARE THE FREE? As once I rode through the deep green wood, I heard a voice that stirred my blood. With its clarion tones that were not rude, And it asked, " Who are the free ? " There was clapping of wings as the music rung, And the giant trees took up the song, That shook the skies as it rolled along. And a wild bird turned to me: " We tread the forest, or swim the air, No despot ruins our pastures fair. We are the free." And the wild woods echoed the thrilling air, " We are the free." As once I rode through the prairie vast. On the ocean land my eyes were cast. To find where the wall of the forest passed, But no forest wall could see ; A calm, deep voice sprang out of the earth, That seemed, by its tone, of heavenly birth, And its music filled the horizon's girth. And it asked, Who are the free ? The wild flowers looked with sparkling eye ; They seemed the stai-s of a brighter sky, And they answered, "We are the free." And the bright clouds echoed from on high, " We are the free."