  Down the road Which asters tangle, Thro' the gap Where green-briar twines, By the path Where dry leaves dangle Down from the ivy vines, We go— By sedgy fallows And along The stifled brook, Till it stops In lushy mallows Just at the bridge's crook. Then, again, O'er fence, thro' thicket, To the mouth Of the rough ravine— Leaf-hidden cricket Chirrs thro' the weirder green— There's a way O'er rocks—but quicker Is the best Of heart and foot, As the beams Above us flicker Sun upon moss and root! And we leap— As wildness tingles From the air Into our blood— With a cry Thro' golden dingles Hid in the heart of the wood. Oh, the wood With winds a-wrestle! With the nut And acorn strown! Oh, the wood Where creepers trestle, Tree unto tree o'ergrown! With a climb The ledging summit Of the hill Is reached in glee. For an hour We gaze off from it Into the sky's blue sea. But a bell And sunset's crimson Soon recall The homeward path. And we turn As the glory dims on The hay-fields' mounded math. Thro' the soft And silent twilight We come, To the stile at last, As the clear Undying eyelight Of the stars tells day is past. |
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