Henry David Thoreau

NATURE

O Nature! I do not aspire

To be the highest in thy quire,—

To be a meteor in the sky,

Or comet that may range on high;

Only a zephyr that may blow

Among the reeds by the river low;

Give me thy most privy place

Where to run my airy race.

In some withdrawn, unpublic mead

Let me sigh upon a reed,

Or in the woods, with leafy din,

Whisper the still evening in:

Some still work give me to do,—

Only—be it near to you!

For I'd rather be thy child

And pupil, in the forest wild,

Than be the king of men elsewhere,

And most sovereign slave of care:

To have one moment of thy dawn,

Than share the city's year forlorn.

INSPIRATION[8]

Whate'er we leave to God, God does,

And blesses us;

The work we choose should be our own,

God leaves alone.

---

If with light head erect I sing,

Though all the Muses lend their force,

From my poor love of anything,

The verse is weak and shallow as its source.

But if with bended neck I grope,

Listening behind me for my wit,

With faith superior to hope,

More anxious to keep back than forward it,

Making my soul accomplice there

Unto the flame my heart hath lit,

Then will the verse forever wear,—

Time cannot bend the line which God hath writ.

Always the general show of things

Floats in review before my mind,

And such true love and reverence brings,

That sometimes I forget that I am blind.

But now there comes unsought, unseen,

Some clear divine electuary,

And I, who had but sensual been,

Grow sensible, and as God is, am wary.

I hearing get, who had but ears,

And sight, who had but eyes before;

I moments live, who lived but years,

And truth discern, who knew but learning's lore.

I hear beyond the range of sound,

I see beyond the range of sight,

New earths and skies and seas around,

And in my day the sun doth pale his light.

A clear and ancient harmony

Pierces my soul through all its din,

As through its utmost melody,—

Farther behind than they, farther within.

More swift its bolt than lightning is.

Its voice than thunder is more loud,

It doth expand my privacies

To all, and leave me single in the crowd.

It speaks with such authority,

With so serene and lofty tone,

That idle Time runs gadding by,

And leaves me with Eternity alone.

Then chiefly is my natal hour,

And only then my prime of life;

Of manhood's strength it is the flower,

'T is peace's end, and war's beginning strife.

'T hath come in summer's broadest noon,

By a gray wall or some chance place,

Unseasoned time, insulted June,

And vexed the day with its presuming face.

Such fragrance round my couch it makes,

More rich than are Arabian drugs,

That my soul scents its life and wakes

The body up beneath its perfumed rugs.

Such is the Muse, the heavenly maid,

The star that guides our mortal course,

Which shows where life's true kernel's laid,

Its wheat's fine flour, and its undying force.

She with one breath attunes the spheres,

And also my poor human heart,

With one impulse propels the years

Around, and gives my throbbing pulse its start.

I will not doubt for evermore,

Nor falter from a steadfast faith,

For though the system be turned o'er,

God takes not back the word which once he saith.

I will, then, trust the love untold

Which not my worth nor want has bought,

Which wooed me young, and wooes me old,

And to this evening hath me brought.

My memory I'll educate

To know the one historic truth,

Remembering to the latest date

The only true and sole immortal youth.

Be but thy inspiration given,

No matter through what danger sought,

I'll fathom hell or climb to heaven,

And yet esteem that cheap which love has bought.

---

Fame cannot tempt the bard

Who's famous with his God,

Nor laurel him reward

Who hath his Maker's nod.

THE AURORA OF GUIDO[9]

A FRAGMENT

The god of day his car rolls up the slopes,

Reining his prancing steeds with steady hand;

The lingering moon through western shadows gropes,

While morning sheds its light o'er sea and land.

Castles and cities by the sounding main

Resound with all the busy din of life;

The fisherman unfurls his sails again;

And the recruited warrior bides the strife.

The early breeze ruffles the poplar leaves;

The curling waves reflect the unseen light;

The slumbering sea with the day's impulse heaves,

While o'er the western hill retires the drowsy night.

The seabirds dip their bills in Ocean's foam,

Far circling out over the frothy waves,—

---

TO THE MAIDEN IN THE EAST[10]

Low in the eastern sky

Is set thy glancing eye;

And though its gracious light

Ne'er riseth to my sight,

Yet every star that climbs

Above the gnarlÈd limbs

Of yonder hill,

Conveys thy gentle will.

Believe I knew thy thought,

And that the zephyrs brought

Thy kindest wishes through,

As mine they bear to you;

That some attentive cloud

Did pause amid the crowd

Over my head,

While gentle things were said.

Believe the thrushes sung,

And that the flower-bells rung,

That herbs exhaled their scent,

And beasts knew what was meant,

The trees a welcome waved,

And lakes their margins laved,

When thy free mind

To my retreat did wind.

It was a summer eve,

The air did gently heave

While yet a low-hung cloud

Thy eastern skies did shroud;

The lightning's silent gleam,

Startling my drowsy dream,

Seemed like the flash

Under thy dark eyelash.

From yonder comes the sun,

But soon his course is run,

Rising to trivial day

Along his dusty way;

But thy noontide completes

Only auroral heats,

Nor ever sets,

To hasten vain regrets.

Direct thy pensive eye

Into the western sky;

And when the evening star

Does glimmer from afar

Upon the mountain line,

Accept it for a sign

That I am near,

And thinking of thee here.

I'll be thy Mercury,

Thou Cytherea to me,

Distinguished by thy face

The earth shall learn my place;

As near beneath thy light

Will I outwear the night,

With mingled ray

Leading the westward way.

Still will I strive to be

As if thou wert with me;

Whatever path I take,

It shall be for thy sake,

Of gentle slope and wide,

As thou wert by my side,

Without a root

To trip thy gentle foot.

I'll walk with gentle pace,

And choose the smoothest place,

And careful dip the oar,

And shun the winding shore,

And gently steer my boat

Where water-lilies float,

And cardinal-flowers

Stand in their sylvan bowers.

TO MY BROTHER

Brother, where dost thou dwell?

What sun shines for thee now?

Dost thou indeed fare well,

As we wished thee here below?

What season didst thou find?

'Twas winter here.

Are not the Fates more kind

Than they appear?

Is thy brow clear again

As in thy youthful years?

And was that ugly pain

The summit of thy fears?

Yet thou wast cheery still;

They could not quench thy fire;

Thou didst abide their will,

And then retire.

Where chiefly shall I look

To feel thy presence near?

Along the neighboring brook

May I thy voice still hear?

Dost thou still haunt the brink

Of yonder river's tide?

And may I ever think

That thou art by my side?

What bird wilt thou employ

To bring me word of thee?

For it would give them joy—

'T would give them liberty—

To serve their former lord

With wing and minstrelsy.

A sadder strain mixed with their song,

They've slowlier built their nests;

Since thou art gone

Their lively labor rests.

Where is the finch, the thrush,

I used to hear?

Ah, they could well abide

The dying year.

Now they no more return,

I hear them not;

They have remained to mourn,

Or else forgot.

GREECE[11]

When life contracts into a vulgar span,

And human nature tires to be a man,

I thank the gods for Greece,

That permanent realm of peace.

For as the rising moon far in the night

Checkers the shade with her forerunning light,

So in my darkest hour my senses seem

To catch from her Acropolis a gleam.

Greece, who am I that should remember thee,

Thy Marathon and thy ThermopylÆ?

Is my life vulgar, my fate mean,

Which on such golden memories can lean?

THE FUNERAL BELL

One more is gone

Out of the busy throng

That tread these paths;

The church-bell tolls,

Its sad knell rolls

To many hearths.

Flower-bells toll not,

Their echoes roll not

Upon my ear;

There still, perchance,

That gentle spirit haunts

A fragrant bier.

Low lies the pall,

Lowly the mourners all

Their passage grope;

No sable hue

Mars the serene blue

Of heaven's cope.

In distant dell

Faint sounds the funeral bell;

A heavenly chime;

Some poet there

Weaves the light-burthened air

Into sweet rhyme.

THE MOON

Time wears her not; she doth his chariot guide;

Mortality below her orb is placed.

Raleigh.

The full-orbed moon with unchanged ray

Mounts up the eastern sky,

Not doomed to these short nights for aye,

But shining steadily.

She does not wane, but my fortune,

Which her rays do not bless;

My wayward path declineth soon,

But she shines not the less.

And if she faintly glimmers here,

And palÈd is her light,

Yet alway in her proper sphere

She's mistress of the night.

THE FALL OF THE LEAF[12]

Thank God who seasons thus the year,

And sometimes kindly slants his rays;

For in his winter he's most near

And plainest seen upon the shortest days.

Who gently tempers now his heats.

And then his harsher cold, lest we

Should surfeit on the summer's sweets,

Or pine upon the winter's crudity.

A sober mind will walk alone,

Apart from nature, if need be,

And only its own seasons own:

For nature leaving its humanity.

Sometimes a late autumnal thought

Has crossed my mind in green July,

And to its early freshness brought

Late ripened fruits, and an autumnal sky.

The evening of the year draws on,

The fields a later aspect wear;

Since Summer's garishness is gone,

Some grains of night tincture the noontide air.

Behold! the shadows of the trees

Now circle wider 'bout their stem,

Like sentries that by slow degrees

Perform their rounds, gently protecting them.

And as the year doth decline,

The sun allows a scantier light;

Behind each needle of the pine

There lurks a small auxiliar to the night.

I hear the cricket's slumbrous lay

Around, beneath me, and on high;

It rocks the night, it soothes the day,

And everywhere is Nature's lullaby.

But most he chirps beneath the sod,

When he has made his winter bed;

His creak grown fainter but more broad,

A film of autumn o'er the summer spread.

Small birds, in fleets migrating by,

Now beat across some meadow's bay,

And as they tack and veer on high,

With faint and hurried click beguile the way.

Far in the woods, these golden days,

Some leaf obeys its Maker's call;

And through their hollow aisles it plays

With delicate touch the prelude of the Fall.

Gently withdrawing from its stem,

It lightly lays itself along

Where the same hand hath pillowed them,

Resigned to sleep upon the old year's throng.

The loneliest birch is brown and sere,

The farthest pool is strewn with leaves,

Which float upon their watery bier,

Where is no eye that sees, no heart that grieves.

The jay screams through the chestnut wood;

The crisped and yellow leaves around

Are hue and texture of my mood,

And these rough burs my heirlooms on the ground.

The threadbare trees, so poor and thin,

They are no wealthier than I;

But with as brave a core within

They rear their boughs to the October sky.

Poor knights they are which bravely wait

The charge of Winter's cavalry,

Keeping a simple Roman state,

Discumbered of their Persian luxury.

THE THAW

I saw the civil sun drying earth's tears,

Her tears of joy that only faster flowed.[13]

Fain would I stretch me by the highway-side

To thaw and trickle with the melting snow;

That mingled, soul and body, with the tide,

I too may through the pores of nature flow.

A WINTER SCENE[14]

The rabbit leaps,

The mouse out-creeps,

The flag out-peeps

Beside the brook;

The ferret weeps,

The marmot sleeps,

The owlet keeps

In his snug nook.

The apples thaw,

The ravens caw,

The squirrels gnaw

The frozen fruit.

To their retreat

I track the feet

Of mice that eat

The apple's root.

The snow-dust falls,

The otter crawls,

The partridge calls,

Far in the wood.

The traveler dreams,

The tree-ice gleams,

The blue jay screams

In angry mood.

The willows droop,

The alders stoop,

The pheasants group

Beneath the snow.

The catkins green

Cast o'er the scene

A summer's sheen,

A genial glow.

TO A STRAY FOWL

POVERTY
A FRAGMENT

PILGRIMS

THE DEPARTURE

INDEPENDENCE[15]

DING DONG[17]

OMNIPRESENCE

INSPIRATION

MISSION

DELAY

PRAYER

A LIST OF THE POEMS AND BITS OF VERSE SCATTERED AMONG THOREAU'S PROSE WRITINGS EXCLUSIVE OF THE JOURNAL

^*_*^*

INDEX

Achilles, The Youth of, translation, 385.

Acre, an, as long measure, 60.

Acton (Mass.), 136.

Æschylus, The Prometheus Bound of, translation, 337-375.

Æsculapius, translation, 380.

Agriculture, the task of Americans, 229-231.

Ajax, The Treatment of, translation, 387.

Alphonse, Jean, and Falls of Montmorenci, 38, 39; quoted, 91.

America, superiorities of, 220-224.

American, money in Quebec, 24; the, and government, 82, 83.

Amphiaraus, The Death of, translation, 387.

Anacreon, quoted, 108, 109, 110.

Andropogons, or beard-grasses, 225-258.

Ange Gardien Parish, 42; church of, 46.

Angler's Souvenir, the, 119.

Apollo, translation, 383.

Apple, history of the tree, 290-298; the wild, 299, 300; the crab-, 301, 302; growth of the wild, 302-308; cropped by cattle, 303-307; the fruit and flavor of the, 308-314; beauty of the, 314, 315; naming of the, 315-317; last gleaning of the, 317-319; the frozen-thawed, 319, 320; dying out of the wild, 321, 322.

Apple-howling, 298.

Arpent, the, 60.

Ashburnham (Mass.), 3; with a better house than any in Canada, 100.

Ash trees, 6.

Assabet, the, 136.

Audubon, John James, reading, 103; 109, note; 112, note.

Aurora of Guido, The, verse, 399.

Autumn foliage, brightness of, 249-252.

Autumnal Tints, 249-289.

Bartram, William, quoted, 199.

Bathing feet in brooks, 140.

Beard-grasses, andropogons or, 255-258.

Beauport (Que.), and le Chemin de, 30; getting lodgings in, 35-38; church in, 69; Seigniory of, 96.

BeauprÉ, Seigniory of the CÔte de, 41.

"Behold, how spring appearing," verse, 109.

Bellows Falls (Vt.), 5.

Birch, yellow, 6.

Birds and mountains, 149.

Bittern, booming of the, 111.

Black Knight, The, verse, 415, note.

Blueberries, and milk, supper of, 144.

Bluebird, the, 110.

Bobolink, the, 113.

BodÆus, quoted, 317.

Bolton (Mass.), 137.

Bonsecours Market (Montreal), 11.

Books on natural history, reading, 103-105.

Boots, Canadian, 51.

Boston (Mass.), 3, 7, 9.

Boucher, quoted, 91.

Boucherville (Que.), 20.

Bouchette, Topographical Description of the Canadas, quoted, 41, 42, 63, 64, 89, 92, 94, 95.

Bout de l'Isle, 20.

Brand's Popular Antiquities quoted, 297, 298.

Bravery of science, the, 106, 107.

"Brother, where dost thou dwell?" verse, 403.

Burlington (Vt.), 7, 99.

Burton, Sir Richard Francis, 228.

Butternut tree, 6.

Cabs, Montreal, 18; Quebec, 69, 70.

Caddis-worms, 170.

Caen, Emery de, quoted, 52.

Caleche, the (see Cabs), 69, 70.

Canada, apparently older than the United States, 80, 81; population of, 81, 82; the French in, a nation of peasants, 82.

Canadense, Iter, and the word, 101.

Canadian, French, 9; horses, 34; women, 34; atmosphere, 34; love of neighborhood, 42, 43; houses, 44, 59; clothes, 45; salutations, 47; vegetables and trees, 47, 48; boots, 51; tenures, 63, 64.

Cane, a straight and a twisted, 184, 185.

Cap aux Oyes, 93.

Cape Diamond, 22, 40; signal-gun on, 85; the view from, 88.

Cape Rosier, 92.

Cape Rouge, 21, 95.

Cape Tourmente, 41, 89, 96.

Cartier, Jacques, 7, and the St. Lawrence, 89-91; quoted, 97, 98, 99.

Castor and Pollux, translation, 388.

Cattle-show, men at, 184.

Cemetery of fallen leaves, 269, 270.

Chaleurs, the Bay of, 90.

Chalmers, Dr., in criticism of Coleridge, 324.

Chambly (Que.), 11.

Champlain, Samuel, quoted, 8; whales in map of, 91.

Charlevoix, quoted, 52, 91.

ChÂteau Richer, church of, 46, 49; lodgings at, 59.

Chaucer, quoted, 159, 160.

ChaudiÈre River, the, 21; Falls of the, 69, 70.

Cheap men, 29, 30.

Cherry-stones, transported by birds, 188.

Chickadee, the, 108.

Chien, La RiviÈre au, 56.

Churches, Catholic and Protestant, 12-14; roadside, 46.

Claire Fontaine, La, 26.

Clothes, bad-weather, 28; Canadian, 45.

Colors, names and joy of, 273-275.

Concord (Mass.), 3, 6, 8; History of, quoted, 115, 133, 149, 152.

Concord River, the, 115, 139.

Connecticut River, 5, 145, 147.

Coureurs de bois, and de risques, 43.

Crickets, the creaking of, 108.

Crookneck squash seeds, Quebec, 87.

Crosses, roadside, 45, 46.

Crow, the, 108; not imported from Europe, 113.

Crystalline botany, 126, 127.

Culm, bloom in the, 253.

Darby, William, quoted, 93, 94.

Delay, verse, 418.

Departure, The, verse, 414.

Ding Dong, verse, 417.

Dogs in harness, 30.

Drake, Sir Francis, quoted, 325.

Dubartas, quoted, translation of Sylvester, 328, 329.

Ducks, 110.

"Each summer sound," verse, 112.

East Main, Labrador and, health in the words, 104.

Easterbrooks Country, the, 299, 303.

Edda, the Prose, quoted, 291.

Eggs, a master in cooking, 61, 62.

Elm, the, 263, 264, 276.

Elysium, translation, 375.

Emerson, George B., quoted, 200.

English and French in the New World, 66, 67.

Entomology, the study of, 107, 108.

Evelyn, John, quoted, 310, 311.

Ex Oriente Lux; ex Occidente Frux, 221.

Experiences, the paucity of men's, 241, 242.

Eyes, the sight of different men's, 285-288.

Fall of the Leaf, The, verse, 407.

Fallen Leaves, 264-270.

Falls, a drug of, 58.

Fame, translation, 378.

Fish, spearing, 119, 121-123.

Fisher, the pickerel, 180, 181.

Fishes, described in Massachusetts Report, 118.

Fitchburg (Mass.), 3.

Fitzwilliam (N. H.), 4.

Foreign country, quickly in a, 31.

Forests, nations preserved by, 229.

Fortifications, ancient and modern, 77, 78.

Fox, the, 117.

French, difficulties in talking, 35-37, 47; strange, 50; pure, 52; in the New World, English and, 66-68; in Canada, 81, 82; the, spoken in Quebec streets, 86, 87.

Friends, The Value of, translation, 387.

Froissart, good place to read, 23.

Frost-smoke, 166.

Funeral Bell, The, verse, 405.

Fur Countries, inspiring neighborhood of the, 105.

Garget, poke or, 253-255.

Geese, first flock of, 110.

Gesner, Konrad von, quoted, 318.

Gosse, P. A., Canadian Naturalist, 91.

Great Brook, 137.

Great Fields, the, 257.

"Great God! I ask thee for no meaner pelf," verse, 418.

Great River, the, or St. Lawrence, 89, 90, 91, 92.

Greece, verse, 404.

Greece, The Freedom of, translation, 390.

Green Mountains, the, 6, 100, 145, 147.

Grey, the traveler, quoted, 94.

Grippling for apples, 309.

Gulls, 110.

Guyot, Arnold, 93; quoted, 93, 94, 220, 221.

Harvard (Mass.), 151, 152.

"Have you not seen," verse, 413.

Hawk, fish, 110.

Head, Sir Francis, quoted, 47, 221, 222.

Height of Glory, The, translation,384.

Hercules, names the Hill of Kronos, translation, 377.

Hercules' Prayer concerning Ajax, son of Telamon, translation, 390.

Herrick, Robert, 298.

Hickory, the, 264, 265.

Highlanders in Quebec, 25-27, 28, 29, 79.

"His steady sails he never furls," verse, 109.

Hoar-frost, 126, 127.

Hochelaga, 89, 97, 99.

Homer, quoted, 181.

Hoosac Mountains, 147.

Hop, culture of the, 136, 137.

Horses, Canadian, 34.

Hortus siccus, nature in winter a, 179.

House, the perfect, 153.

Houses, Canadian, 44, 59; American compared with Canadian, 100.

Humboldt, Alexander von, 92, 93.

Hunt House, the old, 201.

Hypseus' Daughter Cyrene, translation, 383.

"I saw the civil sun drying earth's tears," verse, 409.

"I see the civil sun drying earth's tears," verse, 120.

Ice, the booming of, 176.

Ice formations in a river-bank, 128, 129.

"If I am poor," verse, 412.

"If thou wilt but stand by my ear," verse, 418.

"If with light head erect I sing," verse, 396.

Ignorance, Society for the Diffusion of Useful, 239.

Imitations of Charette drivers, Yankee, 99.

"In this roadstead I have ridden," verse, 414.

"In two years' time 't had thus," verse, 303.

Independence, verse, 415.

Indoors, living, 207-209.

Inn, inscription on wall of Swedish, 141.

Inspiration, quatrain, 418.

Inspiration, verse, 396.

Invertebrate Animals, Report on, quoted, 129.

"I've searched my faculties around," verse, 418.

Jay, the, 108, 199.

Jesuit Relations, quoted, 96.

Jesuits' Barracks, the, in Quebec, 24.

Joel, the prophet, quoted, 322.

Jonson, Ben, quoted, 226.

Josselyn, John, quoted, 2.

Kalm, Swedish traveler, quoted, 21, 30, 39, 65; on sea-plants near Quebec, 93.

Keene (N. H.) Street, 4; heads like, 4.

Kent, the Duke of, property of, 38.

Killington Peak, 6.

Knowledge, the slow growth of, 181; Society for the Diffusion of Useful, 239; true, 240.

Labrador and East Main, health in the words, 104.

Lake, a woodland, in winter, 174, 175.

Lake Champlain, 6-8.

Lake St. Peter, 96, 97.

Lalement, Hierosme, quoted, 22.

Lancaster (Mass.), 138, 139, 149.

Landlord, The, 153-162.

Landlord, qualities of the, 153-162.

La Prairie (Que.), 11, 18, 99.

Lark, the, 109, 110.

Lead, rain of, 26.

Leaves, fallen, 264-270; scarlet oak, 278-281.

Lincoln (Mass.), 282, 283.

LinnÆus, quoted, 222.

Longueuil (Que.), 20.

Loudon, John Claudius, quoted, 197, 200, 291, 292, 310.

"Low in the eastern sky," verse, 400.

McCulloch's Geographical Dictionary, quoted, 49.

McTaggart, John, quoted, 94.

MacTavish, Simon, 98.

Man, translation, 383.

Man, The Divine in, translation, 386.

Map, drawing, on kitchen table, 60; of Canada, inspecting a, 95.

Maple, the red and sugar, 6; the red, 258-263, 265; the sugar, 261, 271-278.

MaraÑon, the river, 93.

Marlborough (Mass.), 214.

Merrimack River, the, 147.

Michaux, AndrÉ, quoted, 269.

Michaux, FranÇois AndrÉ, quoted, 220, 261, 301.

Midnight, exploring the, 323.

Miller, a crabbed, 69.

Milne, Alexander, quoted, 193, 194.

Mississippi, discovery of the, 90; extent of the, 93; a panorama of the, 224.

Mission, verse, 418.

Monadnock, 4, 143, 145, 147.

Montcalm, Wolfe and, monument to, 73, 74.

Montmorenci County, 62; the habitans of, 64-68.

Montmorenci, Falls of, 29, 37-39.

Montreal (Que.), 9, 11; described, 14-16; the mixed population of, 17, 18; from Quebec to, 96, 97; and its surroundings, beautiful view of, 98; the name of, 98.

Moon, The, verse, 406.

Moonlight, Night and, 323-333.

Moonlight, reading by, 145.

Moonshine, 324, 325.

Moore, Thomas, 98.

Morning, winter, early, 163-166.

Morton, Thomas, 2.

Mount Royal (Montreal), 11.

Mountains, the use of, 148, 149; and plain, influence of the, 150, 151.

Muse, The Venality of the, translation, 389.

Musketaquid, Prairie, or Concord River, 115.

Muskrat, the, 114-117.

Mussel, the, 129.

"My life more civil is and free," verse, 415.

Names, poetry in, 20; of places, French, 56, 57; men's, 236, 237; of colors, 273, 274.

Natural History of Massachusetts, 103-131.

Natural history, reading books of, 103, 105.

Nature, health to be found in, 105; man's work the most natural, compared with that of, 119; the hand of, upon her children, 124, 125; different methods of work, 125; the civilized look of, 141; the winter purity of, 167; a hortus siccus in, 179; men's relation to, 241, 242.

Nature, verse, 395.

Nawshawtuct Hill, 384.

New things to be seen near home, 211, 212.

Niebuhr, Barthold Georg, quoted, 290.

Niepce, Joseph NicÉphore, quoted, 238.

Night and Moonlight, 323-333.

Night, on Wachusett, 146; the senses in the, 327, 328.

"No generous action can delay," verse, 418.

Nobscot Hill, 303, 304.

Norumbega, 90.

"Not unconcerned Wachusett rears his head," verse, 144.

Notre Dame (Montreal), 11; a visit to, 12-14.

Notre Dame des Anges, Seigniory of, 96.

Nurse-plants, 193.

Nuthatch, the, 108.

Nuttall, Thomas, quoted, 111, 112.

Oak, succeeding pine, and vice versa, 185, 187, 189; the scarlet, 278-281; leaves, scarlet, 278-280.

Ogilby, America of 1670, quoted, 91.

Old Marlborough Road, The, verse, 214.

Olympia at Evening, translation, 378.

Omnipresence, verse, 417.

"O Nature! I do not aspire," verse, 395.

"One more is gone," verse, 405.

Origin of Rhodes, translation, 376.

Orinoco, the river, 93.

Orleans, Isle of, 41, 42.

Orsinora, 90.

Ortelius, Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, 89.

Ossian, quoted, 332.

Ottawa River, the, 41, 94, 98.

Oui, the repeated, 60.

Palladius, quoted, 294, 308.

Patent office, seeds sent by the, 203.

Peleus and Cadmus, translation, 381.

Penobscot Indians, use of muskrat-skins by, 116, 117.

Perch, the, 123.

Phoebe, the, 112.

Pickerel-fisher, the, 180, 181.

Pies, no, in Quebec, 86.

Pilgrims, verse, 413.

PinbÉna, the, 48.

Pindar, Translations from, 375.

Pine, oak succeeding, and vice versa, 185, 187, 189; family, a, 243, 244.

Pine cone, stripped by squirrels, 196.

Plain and mountain, life of the, 151.

Plants on Cape Diamond, Quebec, 27.

Plicipennes, 170.

Pliny, the Elder, quoted, 292.

Plover, the, 112.

Plum, beach, 201.

Poems, 393-419.

Point Levi, by ferry to, 70; a night at, 71; 89.

Pointe aux Trembles, 20, 21.

Poke, or garget, the, 253-255.

Pommettes, 39.

"Poor bird! destined to lead thy life," verse, 411.

Potherie, quoted, 52.

Poverty, verse, 412.

Prairie River, Musketaquid or, 115.

Prayer, verse, 418.

Prometheus Bound of Æschylus, The, translation, 337.

Purana, the, quoted, 327.

Purple Grasses, The, 252-258.

Quail, a white, 109, note.

Quebec (Que.), 3, 20, 21; approach to, 22; harbor and population of, 22; mediÆvalism of, 23, 26; the citadel, 27-30, 76-80; fine view of, 49; reËntering, through St. John's Gate, 69; lights in the lower town, 71; landing again at, 72; walk round the Upper Town, 72-76; the walls and gates, 74, 75; artillery barracks, 75; mounted guns, 76; restaurants, 85, 86; scenery of, 87-89; origin of word, 88; departure from, 95.

Rainbow in Falls of the ChaudiÈre, 70, 71.

Raleigh, Sir Walter, quoted, 329.

Reports on the natural history of Massachusetts, 103, 114, 118, 123, 129, 130.

Return of Spring, verse, 109.

Rhexia, 252.

Richelieu, Isles of, 96.

Richelieu or St. John's River, 8.

Richelieu Rapids, the, 21.

Richter, Jean Paul, quoted, 330, 331.

River, the flow of a, 178.

River-bank, ice formations in a, 128, 129.

RiviÈre du Sud, the, 92.

RiviÈre more meandering than River, 56.

Roberval, Sieur de, 95, 96.

Robin, the, 109; a white, 109, note.

Robin Hood Ballads, quoted, 150, 207.

Rowlandson, Mrs., 149.

St. Anne, the Falls of, 40; Church of La Bonne, 49; lodgings in village of, 49-51; interior of the church of La Bonne, 51, 52; Falls of, described, 52-55.

St. Charles River, the, 30.

St. Helen's Island (Montreal), 11.

St. John's (Que.), 9, 10.

St. John's River, 8.

St. Lawrence River, 11; cottages along the, 21; banks of the, above Quebec, 40, 41; breadth of, 49; or Great River, 89-95; old maps of, 89, 90, 92; compared with other rivers, 90, 92-95.

St. Maurice River, 94.

Saguenay River, 91, 94.

Salutations, Canadian, 47.

Sault À la Puce, RiviÈre du, 48, 58.

Sault Norman, 11.

Sault St. Louis, 11.

Saunter, derivation of the word, 205, 206.

Scarlet Oak, The, 278-285.

Schoolhouse, a Canadian, 46.

Science, the bravery of, 106, 107.

Scotchman dissatisfied with Canada, a, 75.

Scriptures, Hebrew, inadequacy of regarding winter, 183.

Sea-plants near Quebec, 93.

Seeds, the transportation of, by wind, 186, 187; by birds, 187-189; by squirrels, 190-200; the vitality of, 200-203.

Seeing, individual, 285-288.

Selenites, 323.

Sign language, 61.

Sillery (Que.), 22.

Silliman, Benjamin, quoted, 98.

Skating, 177, 178.

Smoke, winter morning, 165; seen from a hilltop, 173, 174.

Snake, the, 123, 124.

Snipe-shooting grounds, 48.

Snow, 181, 182; not recognized in Hebrew Scriptures, 183.

Snowbird, the, 109.

Society, health not to be found in, 105.

Soldiers, English, in Canada, 9, 10, 16, 17; in Quebec, 24-27, 79, 80.

Solomon, quoted, 291.

"Sometimes I hear the veery's clarion," verse, 112.

Sounds, winter morning, 163, 164.

Sorel River, 8.

Sparrow, the song, 109.

Spaulding's farm, 243.

Spearing fish, 121-123.

Speech, country, 137.

Spring, on the Concord River, 119-121.

Squash, the large yellow, 203.

Squirrel, a red, burying nuts, 190, 191; with nuts under snow, 195; pine cones stripped by the, 196; with filled cheek-pouches, 198.

Stars, the, 328, 329.

Stillriver Village (Mass.), 151.

Stillwater, the, 140, 142.

Stow (Mass.), 136.

Succession of Forest Trees, The, 184-204.

Sudbury (Mass.), 303.

Sugar Maple, The, 271-278.

Sunset, a remarkable, 246-248.

Tamias, the steward squirrel, 198.

Tavern, the gods' interest in the, 153; compared with the church, the, 161, 162.

Tenures, Canadian, 63.

"Thank God, who seasons thus the year," verse, 407.

Thaw, The, verse, 409.

"The full-orbed moon with unchanged ray," verse, 406.

"The god of day his car rolls up the slopes," verse, 399.

"The needles of the pine," verse, 133.

"The rabbit leaps," verse, 410.

"The river swelleth more and more," verse, 120.

"The sluggish smoke curls up from some deep dell," verse, 165.

Theophrastus, 292.

Thomson, James, quoted, 249.

Thoreau, Henry David, leaves Concord for Canada, 25th September, 1850, 3; traveling outfit of, 31-34; leaves Quebec for Montreal on return trip, 95; leaves Montreal for Boston, 99; total expense of Canada excursion, 100, 101; walk from Concord to Wachusett and back, 133-152; observation of a red squirrel, 190, 191; experience with government squash-seed, 203.

"Thou dusky spirit of the wood," verse, 113.

Three Rivers (Que.), 21, 93.

Three-o'clock courage, 208, 209.

To a Stray Fowl, verse, 411.

To Aristoclides, Victor at the Nemean Games, translation, 384.

To Asopichus, or Orchomenos, on his Victory in the Stadic Course, translation, 378.

To My Brother, verse, 403.

To the Maiden in the East, verse, 400.

To the Lyre, translation, 379.

Toil, translation, 389.

Translations, 337-392.

Translations from Pindar, 375-392.

Trappers, 115.

Traverse, the, 92.

Traveling outfit, the best, 31-34.

Trees, Canadian, 48; the suggestions of, 125; the natural planting of, 186-202; a town's need of, 272-278; for seasons, 276.

Tree-tops, things seen and found on, 245, 246.

Troy (N. H.), 4.

Turtle, the snapping, 124.

"Upon the lofty elm tree sprays," verse, 112.

Val Cartier (Que.), 89.

Varennes, the church of, 97, 98.

Veery, the, 112.

Vegetation, the type of all growth, 128.

Vergennes (Vt.), 7.

Village, a continuous, 42, 43; the, 213; trees in a, 275-278.

Virgil, reading, 138, 143, 144.

Wachusett, a view of, 138; range, the, 139; ascent of, 142; birds or vegetation on summit of, 143; night on, 145, 146; an observatory, 147.

Walls, Quebec and other, 74.

Walk to Wachusett, A, 133-152.

Walkers, the order of, 206, 207.

Walking, 205-248.

Walks, not on beaten paths, 213, 214; the direction of, 216-219; adventurous, 285; by night, 326.

Watatic, 137, 147.

"We pronounce thee happy, Cicada," verse, 108.

West, walking towards the, 217-220; general tendency towards the, 219-224.

Westmoreland, etymology of, 6.

Whales in the St. Lawrence, 91.

"Whate'er we leave to God, God does," verse, 396.

"When life contracts into a vulgar span," verse, 404.

"When the world grows old by the chimney-side," verse, 417.

"When winter fringes every bough," verse, 176.

"Where they once dug for money," verse, 214.

Whitney, Peter, quoted, 312.

"Who equaleth the coward's haste," verse, 417.

"Whoa," the crying of, to mankind, 235.

Wild Apples, 290-322.

Wildness, the necessity of, 224-236; in literature, 230-233; in domestic animals, 234-236.

Willow, golden, leaves, 266.

Winter Scene, A, verse, 410.

Winter Walk, A, 163-183.

Winter, warmth in, 167, 168; the woods in, 168, 169; nature a hortus siccus in, 179; as represented in the almanac, 182; ignored in Hebrew revelation, 183; evening, 183.

"With frontier strength ye stand your ground," verse, 133.

"Within the circuit of this plodding life," verse, 103.

Wolfe and Montcalm, monument to, 73.

Wolfe's Cove, 22.

Women, Canadian, 34.

Woodbine, 3, 4, 276.

Woodchopper, winter to be represented as a, 182.

Woodman, hut and work of a, 172, 173.

Woods in winter, the, 168, 169.

Wordsworth, reading, 143, 144.

Yankee in Canada, A, 1-101.

"Yorrick," the, 112, note.

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