Page:The Poets and Poetry of the West.djvu/679

 HAHRIET M, HOWE. Harriet Mart Howe was born on the fourth of May, 1834, at Elba, Genessee county, New York, and was the only daughter of Isaac N. and Nancy Howe. She began to write verses when fifteen years old. In the spring of 1847, her parents moved to Sandusky county, Ohio. The death of her father four years after cast a shade over the "Buckeye Home," of which she sung sweetly. Miss Howe wrote many poems which were published in the St. Louis papers, and in the Fremont Dem- ocratic Messenger, conducted by J. D. Botefur. In 1856 a severe attack of inflamma- tion of the lungs caused a gradual decline in her health, until the twenty-fifth of March, 1859, when she died, at Green Springs, Ohio. MY BUCKEYE HOME. In the great valley of the "West, By bounteous heaven so richly bless'd, Where Cei-es waves her golden crest, And plenty makes her throne, Not far from blue Sandusky's side, Whose waves with grateful murmurs glide, To lose themselves in Erie's tide, There lies my Buckeye Home. When summer spreads her glowing skies, I seek where dewy woods arise. Unseen by aught save fairy ejQ?', And fanned by zephyr's balmy sighs, In pensive rapture roam. Lulled by the poet's liquid lay, I dream unnumbered hours away. While romance spreads her magic sway Around my Buckeye Home. O'er Nature's book I daily pore. Her deepest mysteries ponder o'er — The silent wood, the lonely shore. Yield sweeter wisdom, richer lore, Than many an ancient tome. I read Almighty love and power, Alike in sunshine or in shower, A lesson in each leaf or flower, Which decks my Buckeye Home. ( Warm glows our hearth each wint'ry night, And brighter beams affection's light, Where loved and loving ones unite, To hallow with each social rite The holy shrine of home. Fond hearts and faithful there remain, Unchilled by winter's icy chains, And one eternal summer reigns Within my Buckeye Home. The laugh and song ring blithe and gay, The bells peals forth their silvery lay, As swiftly in our bonny sleigh. We glide beneath the moon's pure ray. And part the snowy foam. While far above, with sleepless eye, Orion guards the midnight sky, And leads his starry galaxy Above my Buckeye Home. Thus far from fashion's mazy tide. And from the giddy heights of pride, Down life's unrufiled stream I glide. Unnoticed and unknown. While hovering round my quiet way. Contentment gilds each fleeting day, And pleasure's ever-genial ray Illumes my Buckeye Home. 663 )