| |
| IT is not far beyond the village church, | |
| After we pass the wood that skirts the road, | |
| A lake,—the blue-eyed Walden, that doth smile | |
| Most tenderly upon its neighbor pines; | |
| And they, as if to recompense this love, | 5 |
| In double beauty spread their branches forth. | |
| This lake has tranquil loveliness and breadth, | |
| And, of late years, has added to its charms; | |
| For one attracted to its pleasant edge | |
| Has built himself a little hermitage, | 10 |
| Where with much piety he passes life. | |
| |
| More fitting place I cannot fancy now, | |
| For such a man to let the line run off | |
| The mortal reel,—such patience hath the lake, | |
| Such gratitude and cheer is in the pines. | 15 |
| But more than either lake or forest’s depths | |
| This man has in himself: a tranquil man, | |
| With sunny sides where well the fruit is ripe, | |
| Good front and resolute bearing to this life, | |
| And some serener virtues, which control | 20 |
| This rich exterior prudence,—virtues high, | |
| That in the principles of things are set, | |
| Great by their nature, and consigned to him, | |
| Who, like a faithful merchant, does account | |
| To God for what he spends, and in what way. | 25 |
| Thrice happy art thou, Walden, in thyself! | |
| Such purity is in thy limpid springs,— | |
| In those green shores which do reflect in thee, | |
| And in this man who dwells upon thy edge, | |
| A holy man within a hermitage. | 30 |
| May all good showers fall gently into thee, | |
| May thy surrounding forests long be spared, | |
| And may the dweller on thy tranquil marge | |
| There lead a life of deep tranquillity, | |
| Pure as thy waters, handsome as thy shores, | 35 |
| And with those virtues which are like the stars! | |
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