Sounded the deepest depths of loneliness.

I was a child at heart, and lived alone,

Dreaming my dreams, as children may, at whiles,

Between their hours of play, and Earth's broad smiles

Allured my heart, and ocean's marvellous tone

Woke no strange echoes, and the woods' complain

Made chants sonorous, stirred no thoughts of pain.

[Pg 60]

And if, sometimes, dear Nature spoke to me

In tones mysterious, I had learned so much

Dwelling beside her daily, that her touch

Made me discerning. Though I might not see

Her purpose nor her meaning, I had part

In the proud throbbing of that mighty heart.

But now the earth has put a tiring-cloth

About her face; even in the mountains' cheer

There is a lack, and in the sea a fear,

The glad, rash sea, whose every mood, if wroth

Or soothing mild, is dear to me as are

Joy's new-born kisses on the lips of Care.

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