Daily Kennebec journal., 1901-11-12
a DAILY KENNEBEC JOURNAL TUESDAY, NovEMHEp = 1907

iNu'e. 'nat howed through the field
hehihd their fathers house. The old
gray stones are there now. inst rs they
placed them then. but grown MESSY
with the moisture Of the years thar
have passed. Aside from these there
Is no anecdotal history Of the poets
youth.
sun one who is familiar with the
region mas nut TO read his poems to
KNOW ana know well. what the boy
was doing and thinking. We know
that
ne iit'le rill that from the springs
or Nonder grove it, curr, nj hrinps
"'H "iI IN" slope awhile and then
'oeS prattiinS INTO groves again
Cft To ITS watbling waters drew
MY llttle feet when life WAS new
lie Was wandering over the hills and
heids, assimildting and STUDYING the
various changing phases of Nature. as
he saw them, then and there.
In imperishable Verse has the poe,
described the hills rock ribbed ana
ancient as the sun--the wales stretch
Ing M pensive uuietness between: the
venerable woods and Nature in her
calm, majestic march. Here on these
bills We're The Two Graves Here
he witnessed the old Mans Funeral"
~" The woods that crown the uplands''
the fellow violet grows. BY the side
of moist meadows he picked the fringcd
scntian. and wandering in the groves.
Gods first temples. he thought and
wrote the lines of "Thanatopsis." 1t
vas IL q grove north of the homestead
that in his 18th year he wrote that
noble discourse on death. The story
has but rec emily been told to correct a
common error.
And it was here. also, walking down
the road that leads to the pebble
paved river. the Westtield ana up the
steep sides of the opposite hills. on his
way to Plainteld to read law, that he
"a " the water fowl high in air. The
world To him then seemed .forlorn and
desoiate." John Bigelow has de-
SCI ioed the scene we'll in his life Of
Rryaut. Presumably Bryant had him
self told him how the world seemed
10 grow bigger and darker as he as
ccndel and his future more uncertain
and desperate. The sun had already
set. leaving behind it one of those
brilliant seas of chrysolite and opal
which often Hood the New England
skies. and pAuSins to contemplate the
ROSY .plcndor with rapt admiration.
solitary bird made its winged way
along the Illuminated horizon He
watched the lone wanderer until i,
Was lost in the distance. and then went
on with new strength and courage"
That night he wrote the lines TO
Water FoWr':
lie who. from zu"c to zone.
Guides throleh The boundeSs sky. th}
certain ui.ht.
In the long way that ] must tread alone.
W i'll lead my steps arlGht
Many Years later a little girl with d
part! OF cousins lished and p, nio KID at
the Otis Bridge. 1t was II wooden
bridge then. and it spanned the West
field river where the road crossed it Il
ascend tn. opposite hills To Planfield-
III" very same road over which Bryant
walked on that memorable evening.
This little girl. uneasy and di>consolat"
,hAr impa tienre had prevented hcr
u k.tcning any fish. and her smaller
cousin had caught severaD. came run
ming across the bridge and met com
ing down the road from the north. tw"
ola white haired men. who sat them
selves down upon the parapet Of the
bridge TO rest. They were William
Cullen Bryant and his brother. John.
retracine the steps taken 5" many
ye&:s before when Just commencing
life
Many wears after that night. the
poet realizing his visions of verse
ana Of fame. his castles in SPAN Il
more substantial reality than those "i
most dreamers returned to tread his
native hills again. Returned to pur-
cEasc and rebuild his fathers house,
raisin., it one story and placing a new
lower floor beneath with a fac-simile OF
his fathers old office and study ad-
ioinirg. The original building had
Keen moved down the hill to the river
many years before. An old coi"icd |
man lives there now. VINO sometimes
:. Us pancs Of glass with Bryant : orig |
inal autograph thereon from the SASH |
-: ur the old windows Ana me VIII
lows in that house are Of much clearer |
glass than one would expect from ltS |
age
"A, also r.pr:rchased the smell home
cad and built there new mouse i"i
his daughter Mrs. Parke GodWih. an"
,h,n bcautited the. fields around WIFE
rc,y stone walls. with driveWayS ana
....cr,,ee of trees He built new roads
tn hoth the east and west villages
that led to them by gentler grade than
before. he built and gave |" the
.ovvn a new schoolhOuse for the pupliS
I, IN. BRYANT district, ana then' "9
crowning gift presented to trustees 1T
tho ,,se of the town a stone hDrary
b,ildirr we'll filled with books ana
hc,lse and barn for the librarian