chapter 8
of _The Mountains_) " " " The Blazed Trail " " " The Forest " " " The Heart of the Ancient Wood C.G.D. Roberts The Story of a Thousand-year Pine (in _Wild Life on the Rockies_) Enos A. Mills The Lodge-pole Pine (in _Wild Life on the Rockies_) " " Rocky Mountain Forests (in _Wild Life on the Rockies_) " " The Spell of the Rockies " " Under the Sky in California C.F. Saunders Field Days in California Bradford Torrey The Snowing of the Pines (poem) T.W. Higginson A Young Fir Wood (poem) D.G. Rossetti The Spirit of the Pine (poem) Bayard Taylor To a Pine Tree J.R. Lowell Silverado Squatters Robert Louis Stevenson Travels with a Donkey " " " A Forest Fire (in _The Old Pacific Capital_) " " " The Two Matches (in _Fables_) " " " In the Maine Woods Henry D. Thoreau Yosemite Trails J.S. Chase The Conservation of Natural Resources Charles R. Van Hise Getting Acquainted with the Trees J.H. McFarland The Trees (poem) Josephine Preston Peabody
For biographical material relating to John Muir, consult: With John o' Birds and John o' Mountains, Century, 80:521 (Portraits); At Home with Muir, Overland Monthly (New Series), 52:125, August, 1908; Craftsman, 7:665 (page 637 for portrait), March, 1905; Craftsman, 23:324 (Portrait); Outlook, 80:303, January 3, 1905; Bookman, 26:593, February, 1908; World's Work, 17:11355, March, 1909; 19:12529, February, 1910.
WAITING
JOHN BURROUGHS
Serene, I fold my hands and wait, Nor care for wind, nor tide, nor sea; I rave no more 'gainst time or fate, For lo! my own shall come to me.
I stay my haste, I make delays, For what avails this eager pace? I stand amid the eternal ways, And what is mine shall know my face.
Asleep, awake, by night or day, The friends I seek are seeking me; No wind can drive my bark astray Nor change the tide of destiny.
What matter if I stand alone? I wait with joy the coming years; My heart shall reap where it has sown, And garner up its fruit of tears.
The law of love binds every heart And knits it to its utmost kin, Nor can our lives flow long apart From souls our secret souls would win.
The stars come nightly to the sky, The tidal wave comes to the sea; Nor time, nor space, nor deep, nor high Can keep my own away from me.
SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY
This poem is so easy that it needs little explanation. It shows the calmness and confidence of one who feels that the universe is right, and that everything comes out well sooner or later. Read the poem through slowly. _Its utmost kin_ means its most distant relations or connections. _The tidal wave_ means the regular and usual flow of the tide. _Nor time nor space_:--Perhaps Mr. Burroughs was thinking of the Bible, Romans 8:38, 39.
Does the poem mean to encourage mere waiting, without action? Does it discourage effort? Just how much is it intended to convey? Is the theory expressed here a good one? Do you believe it to be true? Read the verses again, slowly and carefully, thinking what they mean. If you like them, take time to learn them.
COLLATERAL READINGS
For a list of Mr. Burrough's books, see page 177.
Song: The year's at the spring Robert Browning The Building of the Chimney Richard Watson Gilder
With John o'Birds and John o'Mountains (Century Magazine, 80:521)
A Day at Slabsides (Outlook, 66:351) Washington Gladden
Century, 86:884, October, 1915 (Portrait); Outlook, 78:878, December 3, 1904.
EXERCISES
Try writing a stanza or two in the meter and with the rhyme that Mr. Burroughs uses. Below are given lines that may prove suggestive:--
1. One night when all the sky was clear 2. The plum tree near the garden wall 3. I watched the children at their play 4. The wind swept down across the plain 5. The yellow leaves are drifting down 6. Along the dusty way we sped (In an Automobile) 7. I looked about my garden plot (In my Garden) 8. The sky was red with sudden flame 9. I walked among the forest trees 10. He runs to meet me every day (My Dog)
THE PONT DU GARD
HENRY JAMES
(