Views a-foot by Bayard Taylor
page 11 of 465 (02%)
page 11 of 465 (02%)
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deemed the privilege of the wealthy few. Such a journey, too, offered
advantages for becoming acquainted with people as well as places--for observing more intimately, the effect of government and education, and more than all, for the study of human nature, in every condition of life. At length I became possessed of a small sum, to be earned by letters descriptive of things abroad, and on the 1st of July, 1844, set sail for Liverpool, with a relative and friend, whose circumstances were somewhat similar to mine. How far the success of the experiment and the object of our long pilgrimage were attained, these pages will show. * * * * * LAND AND SEA. There are springs that rise in the greenwood's heart, Where its leafy glooms are cast, And the branches droop in the solemn air, Unstirred by the sweeping blast. There are hills that lie in the noontide calm, On the lap of the quiet earth; And, crown'd with gold by the ripened grain, Surround my place of birth. Dearer are these to my pining heart, Than the beauty of the deep, When the moonlight falls in a bolt of gold On the waves that heave in sleep. The rustling talk of the clustered leaves That shade a well-known door, Is sweeter far than the booming sound |
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