Since I left the <em>city’s heat
-</em>
For this sylvan, cool retreat,
+
High upon the hill–side here
+
Where the air is clean and clear,
I have lost the <em>urban ways.
-</em>
Mine are calm and tranquil days,
+
Sloping lawns of green are mine,
Clustered treasures of the vine;
Long forgotten plants I know,
-
Where the best wild berries grow,
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Where the greens and grasses sprout,
+
When the elders blossom out.
Now I am grown weather–wise
With the lore of winds and skies.
+
Mine the song whose soft refrain
Is the sigh of summer rain.
Seek you where the woods are cool,
+
Would you know the shady pool
Where, throughout the lazy day,
Speckled beauties drowse or play?
Would you find in rest or peace
Sorrow’s permanent release?—
Leave the city, grim and gray,
Come with me, ah, come away.
Do you fear the winter chill,
Deeps of snow upon the hill?
-
‘Tis a mantle, kind and warm,
Shielding tender shoots from harm.
Do you dread the ice–clad streams,—
They are mirrors for your dreams.
