A NIGHT PADDLE.
AMIDthe lilies in the marshThe frogs in solemn chorus croak;The owlet’s hooting, weird and harsh,Is sounding from the hollow oak.And far upon the hillside darkI faintly hear the foxes bark.Across my face the bat’s light wingJust brushes with a strange dismay;And from the shores some frightened thingSlips softly down and swims away.A fish leaps up—a silver flash,’Mid widening ripples—and a splash!A thin, wan spectre of the moonIs rising late behind the hill;The strange mad laughter of the loonPeals o’er the lake—then all is still.Amid the reeds, a gleaming spark—A fire-fly dancing in the dark.I hear the heart of Nature beat!The world of men is far away.O Soul, thy tameless brothers greet!Thou art, to-night, as wild as they.The savage blood is coursing fleet!My heart with Nature’s heart doth beat!M. E. Gorham.
AMIDthe lilies in the marshThe frogs in solemn chorus croak;The owlet’s hooting, weird and harsh,Is sounding from the hollow oak.And far upon the hillside darkI faintly hear the foxes bark.Across my face the bat’s light wingJust brushes with a strange dismay;And from the shores some frightened thingSlips softly down and swims away.A fish leaps up—a silver flash,’Mid widening ripples—and a splash!A thin, wan spectre of the moonIs rising late behind the hill;The strange mad laughter of the loonPeals o’er the lake—then all is still.Amid the reeds, a gleaming spark—A fire-fly dancing in the dark.I hear the heart of Nature beat!The world of men is far away.O Soul, thy tameless brothers greet!Thou art, to-night, as wild as they.The savage blood is coursing fleet!My heart with Nature’s heart doth beat!M. E. Gorham.
AMIDthe lilies in the marshThe frogs in solemn chorus croak;The owlet’s hooting, weird and harsh,Is sounding from the hollow oak.And far upon the hillside darkI faintly hear the foxes bark.
AMIDthe lilies in the marsh
The frogs in solemn chorus croak;
The owlet’s hooting, weird and harsh,
Is sounding from the hollow oak.
And far upon the hillside dark
I faintly hear the foxes bark.
Across my face the bat’s light wingJust brushes with a strange dismay;And from the shores some frightened thingSlips softly down and swims away.A fish leaps up—a silver flash,’Mid widening ripples—and a splash!
Across my face the bat’s light wing
Just brushes with a strange dismay;
And from the shores some frightened thing
Slips softly down and swims away.
A fish leaps up—a silver flash,
’Mid widening ripples—and a splash!
A thin, wan spectre of the moonIs rising late behind the hill;The strange mad laughter of the loonPeals o’er the lake—then all is still.Amid the reeds, a gleaming spark—A fire-fly dancing in the dark.
A thin, wan spectre of the moon
Is rising late behind the hill;
The strange mad laughter of the loon
Peals o’er the lake—then all is still.
Amid the reeds, a gleaming spark—
A fire-fly dancing in the dark.
I hear the heart of Nature beat!The world of men is far away.O Soul, thy tameless brothers greet!Thou art, to-night, as wild as they.The savage blood is coursing fleet!My heart with Nature’s heart doth beat!
I hear the heart of Nature beat!
The world of men is far away.
O Soul, thy tameless brothers greet!
Thou art, to-night, as wild as they.
The savage blood is coursing fleet!
My heart with Nature’s heart doth beat!
M. E. Gorham.
M. E. Gorham.