Sweet is the swamp with its secrets,    Until we meet a snake;    ‘T is then we sigh for houses,    And our departure take    At that enthralling gallop    That only childhood…

 A sickness of this world it most occasions    When best men die;    A wishfulness their far condition    To occupy.     A chief indifference, as foreign    A world must be    Themselves forsake…

 A shady friend for torrid days    Is easier to find    Than one of higher temperature    For frigid hour of mind.     The vane a little to the east    Scares muslin…

 Some keep the Sabbath going to church;    I keep it staying at home,    With a bobolink for a chorister,    And an orchard for a dome.     Some keep the…

A sepal, petal, and a thorn    Upon a common summer’s morn,    A flash of dew, a bee or two,    A breeze    A caper in the trees, —    And I’m a…

 I meant to have but modest needs,    Such as content, and heaven;    Within my income these could lie,    And life and I keep even.     But since the last…

    A face devoid of love or grace,    A hateful, hard, successful face,    A face with which a stone    Would feel as thoroughly at ease    As were they old acquaintances,…

 A poor torn heart, a tattered heart,    That sat it down to rest,    Nor noticed that the ebbing day    Flowed silver to the west,    Nor noticed night did soft…

 A murmur in the trees to note,    Not loud enough for wind;    A star not far enough to seek,    Nor near enough to find;     A long, long yellow…

 A modest lot, a fame petite,    A brief campaign of sting and sweet    Is plenty! Is enough!    A sailor’s business is the shore,    A soldier’s — balls. Who asketh…