Fold softly in thy long embrace That heart so worn and broken, And cool its pulse of fire beneath Thy shadows old and oaken. Shut out from him the bitter word And serpent hiss of scorning; Nor let the storms of yesterday Disturb his quiet morning. Breathe over him forgetfulness Of all save deeds of kindness, And, save to smiles of grateful eyes, Press down his lids in blindness. There, where with living ear and eye Sink down on wave and meadow. Bard, Sage, and Tribune! in himself The scorn like lightning blasting; Mirth, sparkling like a diamond shower, Clear picturings of majestic thought And over all Romance and Song And laurelled Clio at his side All parties feared him: each in turn Too honest or too proud to feign A love he never cherished, probably written, according to Mr. Pickard, at the same time as the article. It was printed in the first number of the National Era issued after Whittier became corresponding editor, in January, 1847. Beyond Virginia's border line While others hailed in distant skies He only saw the mountain bird Stoop o'er his Old Dominion! Still through each change of fortune strange, Racked nerve, and brain all burning, Knew never shade of turning; He held his slaves, yet made withal Nor paid a lying priest to seek His harshest words of proud rebuke, He held his slaves; yet kept the while In the dark vassals of his will His Roanoke valley entered; Across his threshold ventured. And when the old and wearied man Lay down for his last sleeping, His latest thought, his latest breath, With failing tongue and trembling hand Oh, never bore his ancient State None trampling with a calmer scorn He knew her faults, yet never stooped But none beheld with clearer eye The plague-spot o'er her spreading, 60 70 80 90 1 Dr. Charles Follen, a German patriot, who had come to America for the freedom which was denied him in his native land, allied himself with the abolitionists, and at a convention of delegates from all the anti-slavery organizations in New England, held at Boston in May, 1834, was chairman of a committee to prepare an address to the people of New England. Toward the close of the address occurred the passage which suggested these lines: 'The despotism which our fathers could not bear in their native country is expiring, and the sword of justice in her reformed hands has applied its exterminating edge to slavery. Shall the United States- the free United States, which could not bear the bonds of a king-cradle the bondage which a king is abolishing? Shall a Republic be less free than a Monarchy? Shall we, in the vigor and buoyancy of our manhood, be less energetic in righteousness than a kingdom in its age?' (WHITTIER.) The original title of the poem was simply' Stanzas,' and later it was called 'Follen.' Garrison said of it when it first appeared: Our gifted Brother Whittier has again seized the great trumpet of Liberty, and blown a blast that shall ring from Maine to the Rocky Mountains.' The poem became popular throughout the North and West, and was for many years a favorite at declamation contests and anti-slavery meetings. Shall Belgium feel, and gallant France, The impulse of our cheering call? Oh, say, shall Prussia's banner be 50 Gone, gone, sold and gone, Gone, gone, -sold and gone, Gone, gone, sold and gone, To the rice-swamp dank and lone. All their cruel wrongs are known, Gone, gone,- sold and gone, THE MERRIMAC 50 60 70 1838. STREAM of my fathers! sweetly still 10 Its sparkling waters blend with thine. 20 Flit, stooping from the eastern gale; When spring-time's sun and shower unlock Heaven,' 1 The Smile of 40 50 1 Winnipesaukee. The Indian name was thought to mean 'The Smile of the Great Spirit.' See 'The Lakeside' and Summer by the Lakeside.' 2 The celebrated Captain Smith, after resigning the government of the Colony in Virginia, in his capacity of Admiral of New England,' made a careful survey of the coast from Penobscot to Cape Cod, in the summer of 1614. (WHITTIER.) 3 Captain Smith gave to the promontory now called 80 Home of my fathers! I have stood And saw, amidst the curtained gloom And quiet of his lonely room, Thy sunset scenes before him pass; 90 100 Cape Ann, the name of Tragabizanda, in memory of his young and beautiful mistress of that name, who, while he was a captive at Constantinople, like Desdemona, loved him for the dangers he had passed.' (WHITTIER.) bower, Leaf after leaf, dew-moist and bright, Unfolding like a morning flower: How thrills once more the lengthening chain Of memory, at the thought of thee! 20 Old hopes which long in dust have lain, Old dreams, come thronging back again, And boyhood lives again in me; I feel its glow upon my cheek, 1 It was not without thought and deliberation, that in 1888 he directed this poem to be placed at the head of his Poems Subjective and Reminiscent. He had never before publicly acknowledged how much of his heart was wrapped up in this delightful play of poetic fancy. The poem was written in 1841, and although the romance it embalms lies far back of this date, possibly there is a heart still beating which fully understands its meaning. The biographer can do no more than make this suggestion, which has the sanction of the poet's explicit word. To a friend who told him that Memories was her favorite poem, he said, 'I love it too; but I hardly knew whether to publish it, it was so personal and near my heart.' (Pickard's Life of Whittier, vol. i, p. 276.) See also Pickard's Whittier-Land, pp. 66-67, and the poem My Playmate.' 2 Whittier was especially fond of these two opening stanzas. He had already used the lines to describe an ideal character in Moll Pitcher,' published in 1832, but not now included in his collected works. |