A New England Girlhood, Outlined from Memory (Beverly, MA)

by Lucy Larcom

Project Gutenberg/Make a Difference Day Project 1999.

A NEW ENGLAND GIRLHOOD

OUTLINED FROM MEMORY

By

LUCY LARCOM

I dedicated this sketch
To my girlfriends in general;
And in particular
To my namesake-niece,
Lucy Larcom Spaulding.

Happy those early days, when I
Shined in my angel-infancy!
—When on some gilded cloud or flower
My gazing soul would dwell an hour,
And in those weaker glories spy
Some shadows of eternity:—
Before I taught my tongue to wound
My conscience by a sinful sound;—
But felt through all this fleshy dress
Bright shoots of everlastingness.
HENRY VAUGHAN

The thought of our past years in me doth breed
Perpetual benediction.
WORDSWORTH

PREFACE

THE following sketch was written for the young, at the suggestion of friends.