The Complete Poetical Works of John Greenleaf Whittier

The Complete Poetical Works of John Greenleaf Whittier (1895)
by John Greenleaf Whittier
4423908The Complete Poetical Works of John Greenleaf Whittier1895John Greenleaf Whittier

THE COMPLETE
POETICAL WORKS OF
JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER

Cambridge Edition

BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY
The Riverside Press, Cambridge
1895

Copyright, 1848, 1850, 1853, 1856, 1857, 1860, 1863, 1866, 1867, 1868, 1870, 1872, 1874, 1875, 1876, 1878, 1881, 1883, 1884, 1886, 1888, 1890, and 1891,

By JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER, TICKNOR & FIELDS,
JAMES R. OSGOOD & CO., and HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO.

Copyright, 1892,
By GEORGE F. BAGLEY and GEORGE W. CATE,
Executors and Trustees.

Copyright, 1894,
By HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO.


All rights reserved.

The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass., U. S. A.
Electrotyped and Printed by H. O. Houghton and Company.

PUBLISHERS’ NOTE

In 1888, Mr. Whittier supervised the preparation of a collective edition of his writings which was published in seven volumes, under the title of the Riverside Edition, uniform in general plan with the Riverside Edition of Longfellow’s writings. For this edition the poet furnished introductions and head-notes, and in many cases revised the text. He decided which of his earlier poems to discard altogether, which to insert in an appendix, and which to include in the body of his poetry. He also determined on a classification of his poems, and divided the four volumes containing them into definite subdivisions, nine in all besides a small group of his sister’s poems which he wished preserved with his own. Thus, very near the end of his life, he formed what was a definitive edition of his writings. He continued, however, to send out poems occasionally in the remaining four years, and these were gathered after his death into a small volume entitled “At Sundown.” This little book was indeed the extension of one which he had issued privately in the last year of his life.

The present Cambridge Edition is based upon the original Riverside Edition. It contains the same text in the same topical arrangement, together with “At Sundown” and a few poems which were gleaned after Mr. Whittier’s death and included in the authorized biography. The head-notes and the notes at the end of the volume are for the most part copies or abridgments of those used in the Riverside Edition, but a few have been added containing facts brought to light after Mr. Whittier’s death. These are distinguished by being inclosed in brackets [ ]. As in the Cambridge Edition of Longfellow’s Complete Works, a biographical sketch has been provided. The introduction which follows the sketch is that prepared by Mr. Whittier for the Riverside Edition.

Boston, 4 Park Street, September 1, 1894.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH xi
INTRODUCTION xxi
PROEM 1
NARRATIVE AND LEGENDARY POEMS.
The Vaudois Teacher 3
The Female Martyr 4
Extract from “A New England Legend” 5
The Demon of the Study 6
The Fountain 7
Pentucket 8
The Norsemen 9
Funeral Tree of the Sokokis 11
St. John 12
The Cypress-Tree of Ceylon 14
The Exiles 14
The Knight of St. John 17
Cassandra Southwick 18
The New Wife and the Old 21
The Bridal of Pennacook 23
I. The Merrimac 25
II. The Bashaba 26
III. The Daughter 27
IV. The Wedding 28
V. The New Home 29
VI. At Pennacook 31
VII. The Departure 32
VIII. Song of Indian Women 33
Barclay of Ury 33
The Angels of Buena Vista 35
The Legend of St. Mark 36
Kathleen 37
The Well of Loch Maree 39
The Chapel of the Hermits 39
Tauler 44
The Hermit of the Thebaid 45
Maud Muller 47
Mary Garvin 49
The Ranger 51
The Garrison of Cape Ann 52
The Gift of Tritemius 54
Skipper Ireson’s Ride 55
The Sycamores 56
The Pipes at Lucknow 58
Telling the Bees 59
The Swan Song of Parson Avery 60
The Double-Headed Snake of Newbury 61
Mabel Martin: A Harvest Idyl 62
Proem 62
I. The River Valley 63
II. The Husking 63
III. The Witch’s Daughter 64
IV. The Champion 65
V. In the Shadow 65
VI. The Betrothal 66
The Prophecy of Samuel Sewall 67
The Red River Voyageur 69
The Preacher 69
The Truce of Piscataqua 74
My Playmate 76
Cobbler Keezar’s Vision 77
Amy Wentworth 79
The Countess 81
Among the Hills 83
Prelude 84
Among the Hills 85
The Dole of Jarl Thorkell 89
The Two Rabbins 91
Norembega 92
Miriam 93
Nauhaught, the Deacon 99
The Sisters 100
Marguerite 101
The Robin 102
The Pennsylvania Pilgrim 103
Prelude 103
The Pennsylvania Pilgrim 103
King Volmer and Elsie 112
The Three Bells 114
John Underhill 115
Conductor Bradley 117
The Witch of Wenham 117
King Solomon and the Ants 120
In the “Old South” 121
The Henchman 121
The Dead Feast of the Kol-Folk 122
The Khan’s Devil 123
The King’s Missive 124
Valuation 126
Rabbi Ishmael 126
The Rock-Tomb of Bradore 127
The Bay of Seven Islands 127
The Wishing Bridge 130
How the Women went from Dover 130
St. Gregory’s Guest 132
Birchbrook Mill 133
The Two Elizabeths 134
Requital 135
The Homestead 135
How the Robin came 136
Banished from Massachusetts 137
The Brown Dwarf of Rügen 138
POEMS OF NATURE.
The Frost Spirit 141
The Merrimac 141
Hampton Beach 142
A Dream of Summer 143
The Lakeside 144
Autumn Thoughts 144
On Receiving an Eagle’s Quill from Lake Superior 144
April 145
Pictures 146
Summer by the Lakeside 147
The Fruit-Gift 148
Flowers in Winter 148
The Mayflowers 149
The Last Walk in Autumn 150
The First Flowers 153
The Old Burying-Ground 153
The Palm-Tree 155
The River Path 155
Mountain Pictures 156
I. Franconia from the Pemigewasset 156
II. Monadnock from Wachuset 156
The Vanishers 157
The Pageant 158
The Pressed Gentian 159
A Mystery 159
A Sea Dream 160
Hazel Blossoms 161
Sunset on the Bearcamp 161
The Seeking of the Waterfall 162
The Trailing Arbutus 164
St. Martin’s Summer 164
Storm on Lake Asquam 165
A Summer Pilgrimage 165
Sweet Fern 166
The Wood Giant 167
A Day 168
PERSONAL POEMS.
A Lament 169
To the Memory of Charles B. Storrs 170
Lines on the Death of S. Oliver Torrey 170
To———, with a Copy of Woolman’s Journal 171
Leggett’s Monument 173
To a Friend, on her Return from Europe 173
Lucy Hooper 174
Follen 175
To J. P. 177
Chalkley Hall 177
Gone 178
To Ronge 179
Channing 180
To my Friend on the Death of his Sister 181
Daniel Wheeler 182
To Fredrika Bremer 183
To Avis Keene 184
The Hill-Top 184
Elliott 185
Ichabod 186
The Lost Occasion 187
Wordsworth 188
To———: Lines written after a Summer Day’s Excursion 188
In Peace 188
Benedicite 189
Kossuth 189
To My Old Schoolmaster 190
The Cross 192
The Hero 192
Rantoul 193
William Forster 195
To Charles Sumner 196
Burns 196
To George B. Cheever 198
To James T. Fields 198
The Memory of Burns 199
In Remembrance of Joseph Sturge 199
Brown of Ossawatomie 201
Naples 201
A Memorial 202
Bryant on his Birthday 203
Thomas Starr King 203
Lines on a Fly-Leaf 203
George L. Stearns 204
Garibaldi 205
To Lydia Maria Child 205
The Singer 206
How Mary Grew 207
Sumner 208
Thiers 210
Fitz-Greene Halleck 211
William Francis Bartlett 211
Bayard Taylor 212
Our Autocrat 213
Within the Gate 213
In Memory: James T. Fields 214
Wilson 215
The Poet and the Children 215
A Welcome to Lowell 216
An Artist of the Beautiful 216
Mulford 217
To a Cape Ann Schooner 217
Samuel J. Tilden 217
OCCASIONAL POEMS.
Eva 218
A Lay of Old Time 218
A Song of Harvest 219
Kenoza Lake 219
For an Autumn Festival 220
The Quaker Alumni 220
Our River 224
Revisited 225
“The Laurels” 226
June on the Merrimac 226
Hymn for the Opening of Thomas Starr King’s House of Worship 227
Hymn for the House of Worship at Georgetown, erected in Memory of a Mother 228
A Spiritual Manifestation 228
Chicago 230
Kinsman 231
The Golden Wedding of Longwood 231
Hymn for the Opening of Plymouth Church, St. Paul, Minnesota 232
Lexington 232
The Library 233
“I was a Stranger, and Ye took Me in” 233
Centennial Hymn 234
At School-Close 234
Hymn of the Children 235
The Landmarks 236
Garden 237
A Greeting 237
Godspeed 238
Winter Roses 238
The Reunion 239
Norumbega Hall 239
The Bartholdi Statue 240
One of the Signers 240
THE TENT ON THE BEACH.
Prelude 242
The Tent on the Beach 242
The Wreck of Rivermouth 245
The Grave by the Lake 247
The Brother of Mercy 250
The Changeling 251
The Maids of Attitash 253
Kallundborg Church 255
The Cable Hymn 256
The Dead Ship of Harpswell 257
The Palatine 258
Abraham Davenport 259
The Worship of Nature 261
ANTI-SLAVERY POEMS.
To William Lloyd Garrison 262
Toussaint L’Ouverture 262
The Slave-Ships 265
Expostulation 267
Hymn: “O Thou, whose Presence went before” 268
The Yankee Girl 269
The Hunters of Men 270
Stanzas for the Times 271
Clerical Oppressors 272
A Summons 272
To the Memory of Thomas Shipley 274
The Moral Warfare 275
Ritner 275
The Pastoral Letter 276
Hymn: “O Holy Father! Just and True” 278
The Farewell of a Virginia Slave Mother 278
Pennsylvania Hall 279
The New Year 281
The Relic 283
The World’s Convention 284
Massachusetts to Virginia 286
The Christian Slave 288
The Sentence of John L. Brown 289
Texas: Voice of New England 291
To Faneuil Hall 292
To Massachusetts 292
New Hampshire 293
The Pine-Tree 293
To A Southern Statesman 294
At Washington 295
The Branded Hand 296
The Freed Islands 298
A Letter 298
Lines from a Letter to a Young Clerical Friend 300
Daniel Neall 300
Song of Slaves in the Desert 301
To Delaware 301
Yorktown 302
Randolph of Roanoke 303
The Lost Statesman 304
The Slaves of Martinique 305
The Curse of the Charter-Breakers 306
Pæan 308
The Crisis 308
Lines on the Portrait of a Celebrated Publisher 310
Derne 311
A Sabbath Scene 312
In the Evil Days 313
Moloch in State Street 314
Official Piety 315
The Rendition 315
Arisen at Last 316
The Haschish 316
The Kansas Emigrants 317
For Rightousness’ Sake 317
Letter from a Missionary of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, in Kansas, to a Distinguished Politician 318
Burial of Barber 319
To Pennsylvania 320
Le Marais du Cygne 320
The Pass of the Sierra 321
A Song for the Time 322
What of the Day? 322
A Song, inscribed to the Frémont Clubs 323
The Panorama 323
On a Prayer-Book 330
The Summons 332
To William H. Seward 332
In War Time.
To Samuel E. Sewall and Harriet W. Sewall 332
Thy Will be Done 333
A Word for the Hour 333
“Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott” 334
To John C. Frémont 334
The Watchers 335
To Englishmen 336
Mithridates at Chios 337
At Port Royal 337
Astræa at the Capitol 338
The Battle Autumn of 1862 339
Hymn, sung at Christmas by the Scholars of St. Helena’s Island, S. C. 340
The Proclamation 340
Anniversary Poem 341
Barbara Frietchie 342
What the Birds said 343
The Mantle of St. John de Matha 344
Laus Deo! 345
Hymn for the Celebration of Emancipation at Newburyport 346
After the War.
The Peace Autumn 346
To the Thirty-Ninth Congress 347
The Hive at Gettysburg 348
Howard at Atlanta 348
The Emancipation Group 349
The Jubilee Singers 349
Garrison 350
SONGS OF LABOR AND REFORM.
The Quaker of the Olden Time 351
Democracy 351
The Gallows 352
Seed-Time and Harvest 354
To the Reformers of England 354
The Human Sacrifice 355
Songs of Labor.
Dedication 357
The Shoemakers 357
The Fishermen 358
The Lumbermen 359
The Ship-Builders 361
The Drovers 362
The Huskers 363
The Reformer 364
The Peace Convention at Brussels 366
The Prisoner for Debt 367
The Christian Tourists 368
The Men of Old 369
To Pius IX 370
Calef in Boston 371
Our State 371
The Prisoners of Naples 372
The Peace of Europe 373
Astræa 373
The Disenthralled 374
The Poor Voter on Election Day 374
The Dream of Pio Nono 375
The Voices 376
The New Exodus 377
The Conquest of Finland 377
The Eve of Election 378
From Perugia 379
Italy 381
Freedom in Brazil 381
After Election 382
Disarmament 382
The Problem 382
Our Country 383
On the Big Horn 384
POEMS SUBJECTIVE AND REMINISCENT.
Memories 386
Raphael 387
Ego 388
The Pumpkin 390
Forgiveness 390
To my Sister 391
My Thanks 391
Remembrance 392
My Namesake 393
A Memory 395
My Dream 395
The Barefoot Boy 396
My Psalm 397
The Waiting 398
Snow-Bound 398
My Triumph 406
In School-Days 407
My Birthday 408
Red Riding-Hood 408
Response 409
At Eventide 409
Voyage of the Jettie 410
My Trust 411
A Name 412
Greeting 412
An Autograph 413
Abram Morrison 413
A Legacy 415
RELIGIOUS POEMS.
The Star of Bethlehem 416
The Cities of the Plain 417
The Call of the Christian 417
The Crucifixion 418
Palestine 419
Hymns from the French of Lamartine
I. Encore un Hymne 420
II. Le Cri de l’Ame 421
The Familist’s Hymn 421
Ezekiel 423
What the Voice said 424
The Angel of Patience 425
The Wife of Manoah to her Husband 425
My Soul and I 426
Worship 429
The Holy Land 430
The Reward 430
The Wish of To-Day 431
All’s Well 431
Invocation 431
Questions of Life 432
First-Day Thoughts 433
Trust 434
Trinitas 434
The Sisters 435
“The Rock” in El Ghor 435
The Over-Heart 436
The Shadow and the Light 437
The Cry of a Lost Soul 438
Andrew Rykman’s Prayer 439
The Answer 441
The Eternal Goodness 442
The Common Question 443
Our Master 443
The Meeting 445
The Clear Vision 447
Divine Compassion 448
The Prayer-Seeker 448
The Brewing of Soma 449
A Woman 450
The Prayer of Agassiz 450
In Quest 451
The Friend’s Burial 452
A Christmas Carmen 453
Vesta 454
Child-Songs 454
The Healer 454
The Two Angels 455
Overruled 455
Hymn of the Dunkers 456
Giving and Taking 456
The Vision of Echard 457
Inscriptions.
On a Sun-Dial 459
On a Fountain 459
The Minister’s Daughter 459
By their Works 460
The Word 460
The Book 460
Requirement 461
Help 461
Utterance 461
Oriental Maxims.
The Inward Judge 461
Laying up Treasure 462
Conduct 462
An Easter Flower Gift 462
The Mystic’s Christmas 462
At Last 463
What the Traveller said at Sunset 463
“The Story of Ida” 464
The Light that is felt 464
The Two Loves 464
Adjustment 464
Hymns of the Brahmo Somaj 465
Revelation 465
AT SUNDOWN.
To E. C. S. 467
The Christmas of 1888 467
The Vow of Washington 467
The Captain’s Well 468
An Outdoor Reception 468
R. S. S., at Deer Island on the Merrimac 471
Burning Drift-Wood 471
O. W. Holmes on his Eightieth Birthday 473
James Russell Lowell 473
Haverhill 473
To G. G.: an Autograph 474
Inscription 475
Lydia H. Sigourney 475
Milton 475
The Birthday Wreath 475
The Wind of March 476
Between the Gates 476
The Last Eve of Summer 477
To Oliver Wendell Holmes 477
POEMS BY ELIZABETH H. WHITTIER.
The Dream of Argyle 479
Lines, written on the Departure of Joseph Sturge 480
John Quincy Adams 481
Dr. Kane in Cuba 481
Lady Franklin 482
Night and Death 482
The Meeting Waters 483
The Wedding Veil 483
Charity 483
APPENDIX.
I. Early and Uncollected Verses.
The Exile’s Departure 484
The Deity 484
The Vale of the Merrimac 485
Benevolence 485
Ocean 486
The Sicilian Vespers 486
The Spirit of the North 487
The Earthquake 487
Judith at the Tent of Holofernes 488
Metacom 488
Mount Agiochook 488
The Drunkard to his Bottle 490
The Fair Quakeress 491
Bolivar 491
Isabella of Austria 492
The Fratricide 493
Isabel 494
Stanzas 494
Mogg Megone 495
The Past and Coming Year 506
The Missionary 506
Evening in Burmah 508
Massachusetts 508
II. Poems printed in the “Life of Whittier.”
The Home-Coming of the Bride 509
The Song of the Vermonters, 1779 509
To a Poetical Trio in the City of Gotham 510
Album Verses 512
What State Street said to South Carolina, and what South Carolina said to State Street 512
A Frémont Campaign Song 512
The Quakers are Out 513
A Legend of the Lake 513
Letter to Lucy Larcom 514
Lines on leaving Appledore 515
Mrs. Choate’s House-Warming 515
An Autograph 515
To Lucy Larcom 515
A Farewell 516
On a Fly-Leaf of Longfellow’s Poems 516
Samuel E. Sewall 516
Lines written in an Album 516
A Day’s Journey 516
A Fragment 516
III. Notes 517
IV. A Chronological List of Mr. Whittier’s Poems 528
INDEX OF FIRST LINES 533
INDEX OF TITLES 539


This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.

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