Letme have a scarlet mapleFor the grave-tree at my head,With the quiet sun behind it,In the years when I am dead.Let me have it for a signal,Where the long winds stream and stream,Clear across the dim blue distance,Like a horn blown in a dream;Scarlet when the April vanguardBugles up the laggard Spring,Scarlet when the bannered Autumn,Marches by unwavering.It will comfort me with honeyWhen the shining rifts and showersSweep across the purple valleyAnd bring back the forest flowers.It will be my leafy cabin,Large enough when June returnsAnd I hear the golden thrushesFlute and hesitate by turns.And in fall, some yellow morning,When the stealthy frost has come,Leaf by leaf it will befriend meAs with comrades going home.Let me have the Silent ValleyAnd the hill that fronts the east,So that I can watch the morningRedden and the stars released.Leave me in the Great Lone Country,For I shall not be afraidWith the shy moose and the beaverThere within my scarlet shade.I would sleep, but not too soundly,Where the sunning partridge drums,Till the crickets hush before himWhen the Scarlet Hunter comes.That will be in warm September,In the stillness of the year,When the river-blue is deepestAnd the other world is near.When the apples burn their reddestAnd the corn is in the sheaves,I shall stir and waken lightlyAt a footfall in the leaves.It will be the Scarlet HunterCome to tell me time is done;On the idle hills foreverThere will stand the idle sun.There the wind will stay to whisperMany wonders to the reeds;But I shall not fear to followWhere my Scarlet Hunter leads.I shall know him in the darklingMurmur of the river bars,While his feet are on the mountainsTreading out the smoldering stars.I shall know him, in the sunshineSleeping in my scarlet tree,Long before he halts beside itStooping down to summon me.Then fear not, my friends, to leave meIn the boding autumn vast;There are many things to think ofWhen the roving days are past.Leave me by the scarlet maple,When the journeying shadows fail,Waiting till the Scarlet HunterPass upon the endless trail.
Letme have a scarlet mapleFor the grave-tree at my head,With the quiet sun behind it,In the years when I am dead.Let me have it for a signal,Where the long winds stream and stream,Clear across the dim blue distance,Like a horn blown in a dream;Scarlet when the April vanguardBugles up the laggard Spring,Scarlet when the bannered Autumn,Marches by unwavering.It will comfort me with honeyWhen the shining rifts and showersSweep across the purple valleyAnd bring back the forest flowers.It will be my leafy cabin,Large enough when June returnsAnd I hear the golden thrushesFlute and hesitate by turns.And in fall, some yellow morning,When the stealthy frost has come,Leaf by leaf it will befriend meAs with comrades going home.Let me have the Silent ValleyAnd the hill that fronts the east,So that I can watch the morningRedden and the stars released.Leave me in the Great Lone Country,For I shall not be afraidWith the shy moose and the beaverThere within my scarlet shade.I would sleep, but not too soundly,Where the sunning partridge drums,Till the crickets hush before himWhen the Scarlet Hunter comes.That will be in warm September,In the stillness of the year,When the river-blue is deepestAnd the other world is near.When the apples burn their reddestAnd the corn is in the sheaves,I shall stir and waken lightlyAt a footfall in the leaves.It will be the Scarlet HunterCome to tell me time is done;On the idle hills foreverThere will stand the idle sun.There the wind will stay to whisperMany wonders to the reeds;But I shall not fear to followWhere my Scarlet Hunter leads.I shall know him in the darklingMurmur of the river bars,While his feet are on the mountainsTreading out the smoldering stars.I shall know him, in the sunshineSleeping in my scarlet tree,Long before he halts beside itStooping down to summon me.Then fear not, my friends, to leave meIn the boding autumn vast;There are many things to think ofWhen the roving days are past.Leave me by the scarlet maple,When the journeying shadows fail,Waiting till the Scarlet HunterPass upon the endless trail.
Letme have a scarlet mapleFor the grave-tree at my head,With the quiet sun behind it,In the years when I am dead.
Let me have it for a signal,Where the long winds stream and stream,Clear across the dim blue distance,Like a horn blown in a dream;
Scarlet when the April vanguardBugles up the laggard Spring,Scarlet when the bannered Autumn,Marches by unwavering.
It will comfort me with honeyWhen the shining rifts and showersSweep across the purple valleyAnd bring back the forest flowers.
It will be my leafy cabin,Large enough when June returnsAnd I hear the golden thrushesFlute and hesitate by turns.
And in fall, some yellow morning,When the stealthy frost has come,Leaf by leaf it will befriend meAs with comrades going home.
Let me have the Silent ValleyAnd the hill that fronts the east,So that I can watch the morningRedden and the stars released.
Leave me in the Great Lone Country,For I shall not be afraidWith the shy moose and the beaverThere within my scarlet shade.
I would sleep, but not too soundly,Where the sunning partridge drums,Till the crickets hush before himWhen the Scarlet Hunter comes.
That will be in warm September,In the stillness of the year,When the river-blue is deepestAnd the other world is near.
When the apples burn their reddestAnd the corn is in the sheaves,I shall stir and waken lightlyAt a footfall in the leaves.
It will be the Scarlet HunterCome to tell me time is done;On the idle hills foreverThere will stand the idle sun.
There the wind will stay to whisperMany wonders to the reeds;But I shall not fear to followWhere my Scarlet Hunter leads.
I shall know him in the darklingMurmur of the river bars,While his feet are on the mountainsTreading out the smoldering stars.
I shall know him, in the sunshineSleeping in my scarlet tree,Long before he halts beside itStooping down to summon me.
Then fear not, my friends, to leave meIn the boding autumn vast;There are many things to think ofWhen the roving days are past.
Leave me by the scarlet maple,When the journeying shadows fail,Waiting till the Scarlet HunterPass upon the endless trail.
[Image of the book's back cover unavailable.]