The Culprit Fay and Other Poems by Joseph Rodman Drake
page 29 of 67 (43%)
page 29 of 67 (43%)
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No native bard the patriot harp hath ta'en,
But left to minstrels of a foreign strand To sing the beauteous scenes of nature's loveliest land. IV. Oh! for a seat on Appalachia's brow, That I might scan the glorious prospect round, Wild waving woods, and rolling floods below, Smooth level glades and fields with grain embrown'd, High heaving hills, with tufted forests crown'd, Rearing their tall tops to the heaven's blue dome, And emerald isles, like banners green unwound, Floating along the lake, while round them roam Bright helms of billowy blue and plumes of dancing foam. V. 'Tis true no fairies haunt our verdant meads, No grinning imps deform our blazing hearth; Beneath the kelpie's fang no traveller bleeds, Nor gory vampyre taints our holy earth, Nor spectres stalk to frighten harmless mirth, Nor tortured demon howls adown the gale; Fair reason checks these monsters in their birth. Yet have we lay of love and horrid tale Would dim the manliest eye and make the bravest pale. VI. |
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