| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900. |
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| 1145. Longfellow |
| | | By James Whitcomb Riley |
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| THE WINDS have talked with him confidingly; | |
| The trees have whispered to him; and the night | |
| Hath held him gently as a mother might, | |
| And taught him all sad tones of melody; | |
| The mountains have bowed to him; and the sea, | 5 |
| In clamorous waves, and murmurs exquisite, | |
| Hath told him all her sorrow and delight,— | |
| Her legends fair,—her darkest mystery. | |
| His verse blooms like a flower, night and day; | |
| Bees cluster round his rhymes; and twitterings | 10 |
| Of lark and swallow, in an endless May, | |
| Are mingling with the tender songs he sings. | |
| Nor shall he cease to sing—in every lay | |
| Of Nature’s voice he sings—and will alway. | |
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