Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1833-09-07

hmt0St tne uFdbShes'
Father. Oh. cause more deeP'
More solemn, far, the rustic doth assign
tn the strange restiessness Of those wan leaves!
The cross, he deems, the blessed cross, whereon
The meek Redeemer bowed his head to death,
Was framed Of aspen wood; and since that hour,
Through all its race the pale tree hath sent down
A thrilling consciousness, secret awe,
Making them tremulous, when not breeze
Disturbs the airy thistle, down, or shakes
The light lines of the shining gossamer.
Child (ajler pause. Dost thou believe
IT,, fatherl
Father Nay, my child,
We walk in clearer light But yet, even now,
With something of lingering love read
The characters, by that mysterious hour,
Stamp'd on the reverential soul OF man
In visionary days; and thence thrown back
On the fair forms of nature. Many sign
OF the great sacrifice which won Us Heaven,
The Woodnan and the Mountaineer can trace
On rock, on herb and flower. And be 1t SO.
Theu do not wisely. that, with hurried hand,
Wou,d pluck these silutary fsncies forth
From their strong soil within the PEASANTS
breast,
And scatter them-far. far too faSt!-away
As worthless weeds: Oh. little do we know
Ithen thew have souhed, when saved
But come,
dear boy!
Nv words grow ,insed with thoughts too deep for
thee.
Come. let US search for violets.
Child. Know you not
More of the legends which the Woudmsn tell
Amidst the trees and howcrS7
Either Wit thou know more.
Brin, then the folding leaf, with dark brown
STAINS,
Thereby the mossy ronts Of yon old beech,
Midst the rich TUT of cowslips-sse'st thou not?
There is a spray of woodblnc from the tree
Just ben,ling o'e, il. with wild bees weight
Child The Arum leafs
Father YES. these deep inwrought marks,
The yillager will tell thee-(and with voice
Iower'd in his true hearts reverent earnest.
ness)-
Are the flowers portion from tn aton,ng blood
O, Cavalry she'd. Beneath the cross it grew;
And in the vase.like hollow Of its leaf,
Catching from that dread shower OF agony
A few mysterious drops Transmitted thus
Uoon the groves and hills, their sealing stains,
A heritage, for storm or vernal wind
Never to wait away.
And hast thou seen
The Passion flow er?-It grows not in the woods,
But midst the bright things brought from other
climes.
Child. What, the pale star.shaped flower,
with purple streaks
And lipht green tendris?
Father. ihou nast marko u "e"'
Yes. a pale, dreamy-looking Hover,
A from land Of spiri,ss-ro mine eve
'rhose FAINT wan northumberland yet
Not white, but shadowy-with the mystic lines
(As letters Of some wizard language gone)
into tbeir vapor. like transpareDce wrought,
Bear something Of a strange solemnity,
Awfully Iovely!-and the Chris,ian's thought
Loves in their cloudy Penciil'ng, to Ind
Dread SYMBOLS Of his Lords last mortal panss,
Ne, by Gods hand-The coronal Of thorns-
The Cross-the wuunds-wiih other meanings
deep.
Which will teach thee when we meet again.
That flower. the chosen Tor the martyrs wreath,
The Saviour's holy flower.
But let US pause:
Now have we reach'd the very inmnst heart
OF the old wood. How the green shadows close
Into a rich, clear, summer darkness round,
A luxury Of gloom! Scarce doth one ray,
Even when a soft wind parts the fuiase, steal
Der the bronzed pillars Of these deep arcades;
Or If u doth, with meiiowed hue
OF SUPERINTENDENT light.
Here, in the days
OF Pagan visions, would have been place
For worship Of the wood nymphs! Through
these oaks
A small, Tar cleaning temple night have thrown
The quvering image Of its Dorian shafts
o. the streams bosom; or a scuiptured form
Drvsd or fountain goddess Of the gloom,
Have bowed its head, over that dark chrystal
down,
Dropping with beauty. as lily droops
Hinder bright ran:-but we, my child, are here
With God. our God, Spirit; Who requires
Heart worship. given in spirit and in truth;
And this high kno~ledge-.deep, rich, vast
enough
To fill and hallow all the solitude.
Makes consecrated earth where'er we move,
Without the aid Of shrines.