INTRODUCTION.

MOTHERNOOK.

THE EASTERN SHORE OF MARYLAND.


One day, worn out with head and pen,
And the debate of public men,
I said aloud, "Oh! if there were
Some place to make me young awhile,
I would go there, I would go there,
And if it were a many a mile!"
Then something cried--perhaps my map,
That not in vain I oft invoke--
"Go seek again your mother's lap,
The dear old soil that gave you sap,
And see the land of Pocomoke!"

A sense of shame that never yet
My foot on that old shore was set,
Though prodigal in wandering,
Arose; and with a tingled cheek,
Like some late wild duck on the wing,
I started down the Chesapeake.
The morning sunlight, silvery calm,
From basking shores of woodland broke,
And capes and inlets breathing balm,