New-York tribune., 1891-12-27
DEERING'S OAKS, PORTLAND.
NJ. C. Robbins, in Garden and Forest.

NJ C. Robbins, in Garden and Forest.
What Washington Irving has done for the iudsoH
what Whittier aa IaSsoW hes done for Portland
his native city for its pleasant woods forev,r
in his verse will linger :" the beautiful town that
seated by the sea-" while ve
can see the shAdowy lines Of the trees.
And catch In sudden CLEANS
The sheen Of far-surrounding seas.
And Islands that the Hespndes
or all my boyish dreams
Nor Is IL merely a poetic license TO call the chief
city OF Maine beautiful FOR whether approached By see
Is. with waters, and overshadOwed by fine elms Yet
M fu beauty eaa3S be - e @ until % oT e1ploTs s.n me
since bridge is its connection with the mainland. ana
the continual rise Sody o9 & the eSrcS bay 90 s
scendlng hills while from the nigh npper nndSws ssa
the dweer In that favored town.
For reason bad falsely fancted that Desrinf.s
Woods were to be found soewhere upon those heigho
o'erlcoking the tranquil lay.
where sleep the dead sailors who fell IN the famous
sea-fght between the shannon and the Chesapeake In
covered the old grove In n valley the water. hard
beset by screaming engines and partly beed by iron
classic ground for. though there sixty-six acres
in the city reservation not all of It Is covered with
The ' woods which we're presented by the pcerins
family To the town In 1879, cover q space about a
large as Boston Common and consist almeSt entirely
OF oaks venerable with age aud rsset with the touch
OF autumn when saw them; Drives Wind In ana
out among antique Trees under which The tnrf 10
fresh and green. The underbrlsh is all cleared awa3
centre 70 natural pond Of pleasing contoufs
which Is beautiful feature Of this easily accessible
pleasure ground. ~. ~, , - -
tain slope beyond the rarold-cnt which could easily
he brid ged over to cOnnec II with the grounds and
understand that more land contiguous Is soon to 10
purchased to give greater importance 10 the proper
lions Of the little park ozark the local newspapers
persist In calling H. though far more preferable ana
hallowed Is the homey name Of Deerng's Woods, given
to il by the poet that other appeaton by which Il
Is still known to Portland boys-Deering's Oaks. IL
is neither large imposing enough to re properly
called n park and The old fits II perfectly, while
il seems that somewhere about It's yates might
be engraved the quotation from the Unknown poen.
which makes II classic ground
And Decfing's Woods are fresh and fair.
And with JOY that is almost pain.
Ny heart goes back 10 wander there
And among the Of tho days that werc.
l find my lost youth again
And that strange and beautiful sons
| The groves are repeating IL still.
"a boys win Is the winds wili
And the thoughts OF youth long long thoughts"
So associated Is her poet with the city ~ his
birth that walks under the Overarchng trees
Is pleasant upon Mr.. slmmonss seated statue
Of Longow at the shaded Junction Of several avenues.
looking down those well known Streets which he
sweetly commentaries In his verso the black
wharves and the Slips the "bulwarks by the shores
and that
Breezy dome OF groves
which the occasion Of my pilgrimage 10 the dear
old town, which chershes his memory by preserving
the spot be highly hOncre with the undylng tribute
OF song as perpetual play ground for its children.