VIII.

Pleased, I recall those hours, so fair and free,

When all the long forenoons we two did toss

From lip to lip, in lively colloquy,

Plato, Plotinus, or famed schoolman’ s gloss,

Disporting in rapt thought and ecstasy.

Then by the tilting rail Millbrook we cross,

And sally through the fields to Walden wave,

Plunging within the cove, or swimming o’ er;

Through woodpaths wending, he with gesture quick

Rhymes deftly in mid-air with circling stick,

Skims the smooth pebbles from the leafy shore,

Or deeper ripples raises as we lave;

Nor slumb’ rous pillow touches at late night,

Till converse with the stars his eyes invite.