Lowly it was, but not unsightly,
For sombre firs, erect and knightly
A marvellous dark background lent
To cabin rude and roving tent,
And in those bold, free-handed days
Of earnest toil and homely ways,
When no tall mansion rose to shut
The sunlight from the meanest hut,
The dweller here might chance to be
The lordliest of the strong and free.
For sombre firs, erect and knightly
A marvellous dark background lent
To cabin rude and roving tent,
And in those bold, free-handed days
Of earnest toil and homely ways,
When no tall mansion rose to shut
The sunlight from the meanest hut,
The dweller here might chance to be
The lordliest of the strong and free.
Yet 'twas not thus; almost unknown,
He dwelt there quietly alone,
A youth of manners smooth and mild,
Who all his waking hours beguiled
With books or gun and rod, and ne'er
Seemed bent on other work or cheer.
He dwelt there quietly alone,
A youth of manners smooth and mild,
Who all his waking hours beguiled
With books or gun and rod, and ne'er
Seemed bent on other work or cheer.
The smoke that curled in wreaths of blue
Above his chimney's ragged flue
Was typical of peace within,
A life devoid of care and sin,
And those strange dreams his fancy wove
Beneath the whispers of the grove
When slow winds swept the trees, and bore
Sad music down the wooded shore.
Above his chimney's ragged flue
Was typical of peace within,
A life devoid of care and sin,
And those strange dreams his fancy wove
Beneath the whispers of the grove
When slow winds swept the trees, and bore
Sad music down the wooded shore.
On many a fragrant summer day
When Hood, exultant in his sway,
Swung to the sky his golden shield,
As if to call the battle-steeled
When Hood, exultant in his sway,
Swung to the sky his golden shield,
As if to call the battle-steeled
