Litchfield enquirer., 1859-07-21
POEM.
BY MRS. ANN s. STEPHENS.
Written for the Secnnd Centennial Celebration at

| Written for the Secnnd Centennial Celebration at Woodbury, Conn.
 Wa ha ve me-we have met, by the graves o our sres here the forest .eduened with war.council fires
 here the smoke ot the wigwam while curling high Lett It's blue the hemlock, it's cloud on the sky.
 Let turn from the brightness of this happy hour, Two centuries back, when the savage hcid power, From the Naugatuck, sweeping through gorges and glen,
 To the high Housat tonic, and onward again.
 Here wilderness spread Its wildness and gloom,
 Revealed by the starlight of dogwood in bloom,
 And inc broad rivers ran in the Ackcring and shade Which the pine trees and cedars alternately n,ate
 Here the chiefs ga,herd wild ther gorgeous array, And thei war-pah was red at the dawning of day; Along the broad plain, where the light fingers clear Game the crack oi his r,h :-the leap of the deer. When the leaves of the oak were all downv and red And the wlld cherry blossoms hung white overhead W hen the buds and the sap of the maple sweet And the child lay asleep on the moss at her eet-
 Here the squaw sat a. worh, in the cool o the trees
 While her lord roamed at wll recned at his euse 'rhis-this is the picture, all savagely grand,
 Which our fUrea hers found when they sought out the Lind.
 The contract was honest our forefathers made
 hen they found the red warri"rs ords ot the shade
 They came not to wrangs o igh. for 'he sod, But armed with ie law the blessing O God, With the gold they had Won by privation and toil,
 They purchased right to the rlvers and soil
 Then their cabins We're bniit, and they p.aned the corn;
 Though the warwhoop soon answered the blast of inc horn,
 And the sound of 'he axe, it ran through the wood, bnt challenged conteel o carthage and blood. Sli!l, upward and onward, ID perl of lite, They planted our hOmeseads, with labor and strife For courage is mighty and ahor is grand
 When Il conquers the Toe it tolls with the hand. While the warcry resounded from valley and h ilf The smoke oi the tallow steady and still. | If cabin was burnt by the rivers plan A score o stout hands piled the logs up again. | II famine appeared it was not to rooi For cha here had its nnu and ts | Of danger and want is true brotherhood born, | No mortar stood empty while one man had corn.
 Thus lorefahers fought and our orefatllers won
 The wealth we inherit from father to son; | 'Ili their heads grew white the snow when it
 On the pine branches, lifted half way to the skies,
 And they laid themselves down, in the ripeness of years,
 While new generation baptized them with tears.
 While he meeng-house crowned by it's belfry and | spre,
 Whilecur homeseads are built where the log-cabiu
 And fields ripen grain in the verge of the wood We ask for no Trophies to tell of their de"ds, No thunder oi cannon or trampIing of sieeds
 For each wild flower that springs the smile of its l God.
 Has written their virtues abroad on the sod
 We have met-we have met in the bloom of the year The first glow of summer encircles us Eere; | The sunshine is warm Der the rlpening fruit,
 And the whp-poor will sings when the robin s mute
 Our mills, as they tm through their burden of grain l Send over the waters mellow refrain, l While the wind whispers low as it whsperd to them
 And sways the pale rose on it's telic ate sem
 Our souls, as they feel the melodious thrill, | Send up a thanksgiving more exquisite still,
 And our hers might bend from their heaven of bliss,
 To smile oa a scene of frej''cine like this.