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62            Poems by Mary Baker Eddy




  	               THE COUNTRY-SEAT 

 1	    WILD spirit of song, — midst the
  	        zephyrs at play
 3	    In bowers of beauty, — I bend to
  	        thy lay,
  	    And woo, while I worship in deep sylvan spot,
 6	    The Muses' soft echoes to kindle the grot. 
  	    Wake chords of my lyre, with musical kiss,
  	    To vibrate and tremble with accents of bliss. 

 9	    Here morning peers out, from her crimson
  	        repose,
  	    On proud Prairie Queen and the modest
12	        Moss-rose;
  	    And vesper reclines — when the dewdrop is
  	        shed
15	    On the heart of the pink — in its odorous bed;
  	    But Flora has stolen the rainbow and sky,
  	    To sprinkle the flowers with exquisite dye. 

18	    Here fame-honored hickory rears his bold
  	        form,
  	    And bares a brave breast to the lightning
21	        and storm,
 
                 Poems by Mary Baker Eddy                  63


 1	    While palm, bay, and laurel, in classical
  	        glee,
 3	    Chase tulip, magnolia, and fragrant fringe-
  	        tree;
  	    And sturdy horse-chestnut for centuries hath
 6	        given
  	    Its feathery blossom and branches to heaven. 

  	    Here is life! Here is youth! Here the poet's
 9	        world-wish, — 
  	    Cool waters at play with the gold-gleaming
  	        fish;
12	    While cactus a mellower glory receives
  	    From light colored softly by blossom and
  	        leaves;
15...	    And nestling alder is whispering low,
  	    In lap of the pear-tree, with musical flow. ¹ 

  	    Dark sentinel hedgerow is guarding repose,
18	    Midst grotto and songlet and streamlet that
  	        flows
  	    Where beauty and perfume from buds burst
21	        away,
  	    And ope their closed cells to the bright,
  	        laughing day;


24	    ¹An alder growing from the bent branch of a pear-tree.

 
64            Poems by Mary Baker Eddy



 1	    Yet, dwellers in Eden, earth yields you her
  	        tear, — 
 3	    Oft plucked for the banquet, but laid on the
  	        bier. 

  	    Earth's beauty and glory delude as the shrine
 6	    Or fount of real joy and of visions divine;
  	    But hope, as the eaglet that spurneth the sod,
  	    May soar above matter, to fasten on God,
 9	    And freely adore all His spirit hath made,
  	    Where rapture and radiance and glory ne'er
  	        fade. 

12	    Oh, give me the spot where affection may
  	        dwell
  	    In sacred communion with home's magic
15	        spell! 
  	    Where flowers of feeling are fragrant and
  	        fair,
18	    And those we most love find a happiness
  	        rare;
  	    But clouds are a presage, — they darken my
21	        lay:
  	    This life is a shadow, and hastens away. 
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