Classic Poem

I

Two memories abide from childhood days:
One of the town on tawny bluffs upborne,
The hill-side town, that fronts the gates of morn
And climbs along the river. Often strays
My spirit thither still from the dull maze
Of care and toil. Where once I walked with scorn,
Boy-like, of scenes familiar, paths outworn,
Now fancy dwells on dear, remembered ways, —

Returning as the woodsmen say returns
Some wilding creature: joying in his strength
He roamed afield, unmindful where he strayed;
But when youth's generous fire no longer burns,
Towards the old home he turns his step at length
And dies content within his natal glade.

II

The other of the forest: From the shore
Where the lithe willows clutch the drifting sand,
To serried hills that range their shaggy band,
It built a faery world of shadow. Sore
I longed to enter at its magic door,
And wistfully I sought the beckoning strand;
But there, a barrier from the enchanted land,
The river's hurrying currents onward pour.

O City of the Hills! so dear, so fair,
Where once I watched those vision-haunted heights!
Not of the past alone that longing seems.
Far from the highway's heedless dust and glare
Still seeks my heart some dimly-dreamed delights,
But may not yet attain them — save in dreams!