[THE RIVERMEN.]
When the creeks flow'd wild round the Delaware,
And the sky showed blue through the sharp Spring air,
And the rafts were waiting the raftmen there,
Then these rivermen were ill-content
Until their backs to the oars were bent—
So 'twas ho! for the raft and the river again,
The raft and the river for rivermen.
When, in days gone by, down the Delaware
Those great rafts tethered against the shore,
Were loosed like chafing steeds once more,
Then out of the valleys, and off the hills
The raftmen came flocking with school-boy wills—
And 'twas ho! for the raft and the river again,
The raft and the river for rivermen.
[THE SCHOOL OF LIFE]
And months pass by—the babe becomes a child,
Eager to learn, to imitate, to know,
Lisping the lessons of a higher grade,
Repeating words of wisdom, gems of truth
That others think the little thing should know;
Until at length in childish innocence
It leaves the kindergarten of the world,
And knocks upon the door of adult life,
And enters there, flushed with the lulling sense
Of something new. The playthings are forgot;
The little bells no longer please the ear,
The little books no longer feed the mind,
The little seats no longer suit the child,
The little friends no longer stir the soul,
For it hath learned the alphabet of life,
And put aside the primer once for all.
There is a longing now for deeper life
That fills the heart to overflow—there is
A tumult now within the swollen veins,
When, for the first, they feel a larger life
In unison close beating to its own—
There is a hatred of authority
And of restraint—a satisfaction now
As of a soul enamoured with itself,
A soul insolvent on the rising tide
Of pure existence, with such a stubborness
As mocks advice and takes a happy pace,
Securer of its own security.