Contents -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892). The Poetical Works in Four Volumes. 1892.

At Sundown

To G. G.

An Autograph

The daughter of Daniel Gurteen, Esq., delegate from Haverhill, England, to the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary celebration of Haverhill, Massachusetts. The Rev. John Ward of the former place and many of his old parishioners were the pioneer settlers of the new town on the Merrimac.

GRACEFUL in name and in thyself, our river

None fairer saw in John Ward’s pilgrim flock,

Proof that upon their century-rooted stock

The English roses bloom as fresh as ever.

Take the warm welcome of new friends with thee,

And listening to thy home’s familiar chime

Dream that thou hearest, with it keeping time,

The bells on Merrimac sound across the sea.

Think of our thrushes, when the lark sings clear,

Of our sweet Mayflowers when the daisies bloom;

And bear to our and thy ancestral home

The kindly greeting of its children here.

Say that our love survives the severing strain;

That the New England, with the Old, holds fast

The proud, fond memories of a common past;

Unbroken still the ties of blood remain!