UNANSWERED
Where mountain-peaks rose far and high Into the blue, unclouded sky, And waves of green, like billowy seas, Tossed proudly in the freshening breeze,
I rode one morning, late in June. The glad winds sang a pleasant tune; The air, like draughts of rarest wine, Made every breath a joy divine.
With roses all the way was bright; Yet there upon that upland height The darlings of the early spring— Blue violets—were blossoming.
And all the meadows, wide unrolled, Were green and silver, green and gold, Where buttercups and daisies spun Their shining tissues in the sun.
Over its shallow, pebbly bed, A sparkling river gayly sped, Nor cared that deeper waters bore A grander freight from shore to shore.
It sung, it danced, it laughed, it played, In sunshine now, and now in shade; While every gnarled tree joyed to make A greener garland for its sake.
Deep peace was in the summer air, A peace all nature seemed to share; Yet even there I could not flee The shadow of life’s mystery!
A farmhouse stood beside the way, Low-roofed and rambling, quaint and gray; And where the friendly door swung wide Red roses climbed on either side.
And thither, down the winding road Near which the sparkling river flowed, In groups, in pairs, the neighbors pressed, Each in his Sunday raiment dressed.