75THE SOUND OF THE TREES
I wonder about the trees.Why do we wish to bearForever the noise of theseMore than another noiseSo close to our dwelling place?We suffer them by the dayTill we lose all measure of pace,And fixity in our joys,And acquire a listening air.They are that that talks of goingBut never gets away;And that talks no less for knowing,As it grows wiser and older,That now it means to stay.My feet tug at the floorAnd my head sways to my shoulderSometimes when I watch trees sway,From the window or the door.I shall set forth for somewhere,I shall make the reckless choiceSome day when they are in voiceAnd tossing so as to scareThe white clouds over them on.I shall have less to say,But I shall be gone.
I wonder about the trees.
Why do we wish to bear
Forever the noise of these
More than another noise
So close to our dwelling place?
We suffer them by the day
Till we lose all measure of pace,
And fixity in our joys,
And acquire a listening air.
They are that that talks of going
But never gets away;
And that talks no less for knowing,
As it grows wiser and older,
That now it means to stay.
My feet tug at the floor
And my head sways to my shoulder
Sometimes when I watch trees sway,
From the window or the door.
I shall set forth for somewhere,
I shall make the reckless choice
Some day when they are in voice
And tossing so as to scare
The white clouds over them on.
I shall have less to say,
But I shall be gone.
SOME RECENT POETRY
Stephen Vincent Benét’s
Heavens and Earth
Thomas Burke’s
The Song Book of Quong Lee of Limehouse
Richard Burton’s
Poems of Earth’s Meaning
Francis Carlin’s
My Ireland
The Cairn of Stars
Padraic Colum’s
Wild Earth and Other Poems
Grace Hazard Conkling’s
Wilderness Songs
Walter De La Mare’s
The Listeners and Other Poems
Peacock Pie. Ill’d by W. H. Robinson
Motley and Other Poems
Collected Poems 1901-1918. 2 Vols.
Robert Frost’s
North of Boston
Mountain Interval. New Edition, with Portrait
A Boy’s Will
Carl Sandburg’s
Cornhuskers
Chicago Poems
Lew Sarrett’s
Many Many Moons
Louis Untermeyer’s
These Times
---- and Other Poets
Poems of Heinrich Heine (Translated)
The New Era in American Poetry
Margaret Widdemer’s
The Old Road to Paradise
Factories and Other Poems
THE HOME BOOK OF VERSEAmerican and English 1580-1918Selected and arranged by Burton Egbert StevensonThird Edition Revised and Enlarged
THE HOME BOOK OF VERSE
American and English 1580-1918Selected and arranged by Burton Egbert StevensonThird Edition Revised and Enlarged
Over 4,000 pages of the best verse in English, ranging all the way from the classics to some of the best newspaper verse of to-day. In several different editions.
HENRY HOLT AND COMPANYPUBLISHERSNEW YORK
HENRY HOLT AND COMPANYPUBLISHERSNEW YORK
Transcriber NotesTypographical inconsistencies have been changed and arehighlightedand listed below.Archaic and variable spelling and hyphenation is preserved.Author’s punctuation style is preserved, except where noted.Transcriber ChangesThe following changes were made to the original text:Page 46: Added period aftertrees(Tomatoes, beets, beans, pumpkins, corn, And even fruittrees.)Page 63: Added stanza break between go and Don’t (And three miles more togo!”“Don’tlet him go.)Page 63: Single quote changed to double afterthrough(“He’ll pullthrough.”)Page 72: Removed extra stanza break afterstumbles(The handlestumbles. Thestubborn thing, the way it jars your arm!)Page 74: Removed extra stanza break afterwife(“Hello, Meserve. You’re there, then!––And yourwife? Good!Why I asked––she didn’t seem to answer.)
Transcriber Notes
Typographical inconsistencies have been changed and arehighlightedand listed below.
Archaic and variable spelling and hyphenation is preserved.
Author’s punctuation style is preserved, except where noted.
Transcriber Changes
The following changes were made to the original text:
Page 46: Added period aftertrees(Tomatoes, beets, beans, pumpkins, corn, And even fruittrees.)
Page 63: Added stanza break between go and Don’t (And three miles more togo!”“Don’tlet him go.)
Page 63: Single quote changed to double afterthrough(“He’ll pullthrough.”)
Page 72: Removed extra stanza break afterstumbles(The handlestumbles. Thestubborn thing, the way it jars your arm!)
Page 74: Removed extra stanza break afterwife(“Hello, Meserve. You’re there, then!––And yourwife? Good!Why I asked––she didn’t seem to answer.)