"When I was young, a single man, Of sheep I numbered a full score, "Year after year my stock it grew; And now I care not if we die, "Six children, sir, had I to feed! 'Do this: how can we give to you,' 6 "I sold a sheep, as they had said, And bought my little children bread: A woeful time it was for me, To see the end of all my gains, The pretty flock which I had reared "Another still! and still another! A little lamb, and then its mother! It was a vein that never stopped Like blood-drops from my heart they dropped. Till thirty were not left alive, They dwindled, dwindled, one by one, And I may say, that many a time They dwindled one by one away; "To wicked deeds I was inclined, "Sir, 'twas a precious flock to me, God cursed me in my sore distress; "They dwindled, sir, sad sight to see! And them, at last, from three to two; And, of my fifty, yesterday I had but only one; And here it lies upon my arm, Alas! and I have none; To-day I fetched it from the rock; It is the last of all my flock." XIV. A COMPLAINT. THERE is a change-and I am poor; What happy moments did I count! A well of love-it may be deep; What matter? if the waters sleep -Such change, and at the very door XV. RUTH. WHEN Ruth was left half-desolate, And she had made a pipe of straw, Beneath her father's roof, alone She seemed to live; her thoughts her own; Herself her own delight: Pleased with herself, nor sad, nor gay, She passed her time; and in this way Grew up to woman's height. There came a youth from Georgia's shore, A military casque he wore With splendid feathers dressed; He brought them from the Cherokees; The feathers nodded in the breeze, And made a gallant crest. From Indian blood you deem him sprung: Ah! no, he spake the English tongue And bore a soldier's name; And, when America was free From battle and from jeopardy, He 'cross the ocean came. With hues of genius on his cheek, In finest tones the youth could speak. -While he was yet a boy, The moon, the glory of the sun, And streams that murmur as they run, Had been his dearest joy. He was a lovely youth! I guess The panther in the wilderness Was not so fair as he; And, when he chose to sport and play, Among the Indians he had fought; Such tales as, told to any maid By such a youth, in the green shade, He told of girls, a happy rout! Who quit their fold with dance and shout, Their pleasant Indian town, To gather strawberries all day long; When daylight is gone down. He spake of plants divine and strange, With budding, fading, faded flowers, He told of the magnolia,* spread The cypress and her spire, -Of flowers that with one scarlet gleam Cover a hundred leagues, and seem To set the hills on fire. The youth of green savannas spake, And many an endless, endless lake, Among the evening clouds. And then he said, "How sweet it were A fisher or a hunter there, A gardener in the shade, Still wandering with an easy mind To build a household fire, and find A home in every glade! "What days and what sweet years! Ah me! Our life were life indeed, with thee Magnolia grandiflora. The splendid appearance of these scarlet flowers, which are scattered with such profusion over the hills in the southern parts of North America, is frequently mentioned by Bartram in his travels. (269) So passed in quiet bliss; And all the while," said he, "to know And then he sometimes interwove "Sweet Ruth! and could you go with ine, My helpmate in the woods to be, Our shed at night to rear; Or run, my own adopted bride, "Beloved Ruth!"-No more he said. She thought again-and did agree With him to sail across the sea, And drive the flying deer. "And now, as fitting is and right, Even so they did; and I may say That to sweet Ruth that happy day Through dream and vision did she sink, And green savannahs, she should share But, as you have before been told, So beautiful, through savage lands The wind, the tempest roaring high, Might well be dangerous food 7 |