Take me to the hillside, take me to the rillside,
Where the scarlet pimpernel and starry daisies grow,
Where the woodbine wreathing, greets the zephyr's breathing,
Where the foam-pearls dance upon the rippies as they flow
Take me to the valleys where thick shady alleys
Will lead me to red clover-fields and plains of yellow sheaves,
And I'll sing to bees and flowers, I'll tell the woodland bowers
That the heart brings back its old love to the sweet, green leaves.

Take me where the birds fly, take me where the herds lie

O'er the white waste of drifted sands unstable
We climbed the sedgy dune,
Where, like a sleeping giant, old Cape Sable
Basked at the feet of June.

Beneath the summer noon the shore birds twittered
Around in glancing flocks,
And, like a fair display of jewels, glittered
The foam-bells on the rocks.

Deep peace was in the air and on the billows,
That in smooth slumber lay,
Or gently tossed upon their sandy pillows
As infants wake to play.

The breeze moved landward, scarcely felt in blowing,
But such the fisher hails

What could Luxurious Woman wish for more
To fix her Joys, or to extend her Power?
Their every Wish was in this Mary seen,
Gay, Witty, Youthful, Beauteous and a Queen!
Vain useless Blessings with ill Conduct joyn'd!
Light as the Air, and Fleeting as the Wind.
What ever Poets write, or Lovers vow;
Beauty, what poor Omnipotence hast thou!
Queen Bess had Wisdom, Councel, Power, and Laws;
How few espous'd a Wretched Beauty's Cause!
Learn hence, ye Fair, more solid charms to prize,
Contemn the Idle Flatterers of your Eyes.

And is it so?—a thousand miles apart,
Has lay of mine e'er touched a gifted heart?
Brightened the eye of beauty? won her smile?
Rich recompense for all the poet's toil.
That fav'ring smile, that brightened eye,
That tells the heart's warm ecstasy,
I have not seen—I may not see—
But, maiden kind! thy gift shall be
A more esteemed and cherished prize
Than fairest smiles or brightest eyes
And this rich trophy of the poet's power
Shall shine through many a lone and distant hour:
Praise from the fair, howe'er bestowed, we greet;

Quack! Quack! Quack!
With a toorooloo whack;
Hack away, merry men, hack away.
Who would not die brave,
His ear smote by a stave?
Thwack away, merry men, thwack away!
'Tis glory that calls,
To each hero that falls,
Hack away, merry men, hack away!
Quack! Quack! Quack!

The bonnie Scot! he hath nae got
A hame o' sun an light;
His clime hath aft a dreary day
An' mony a stormy night,
He hears the blast gae crooning past,
He sees the snowflake fa':
But what o' that? He'll tell ye still,
His land is best o' a':
He wadna' tine, for rose or vine,
The gowans round his cot;
There is nae bloom like heath an' broom,
To charm the bonnie Scot.

The roarin' din o' flood an' linn
Is music unco sweet;
He loves the pine aboon his head,
The breckans 'neath his feet:
The lavrock's trill, sae clear an' shrill,

in whom distrust lies
like a gall stone
and desire grows up aching,
a sharp tooth,
there are times your courage
rises over all
and knows no high airs
or aloofness.

Then I plant myself near you
and swear I shall never leave.

Baby sits upon the floor,
Baby's scarce a twelvemonth old;
Baby laughs, and goo-goos o'er
Memories how a babe of yore
Humbled Glooskap bold.

Glooskap was a man of might,
Skilled in magic, huge of limb;
Giant, wizard, goblin, sprite,
Ghost, witch, devil, imp of night,
All had fled from him.

Then he questioned: “Can there be
Further labors to be done?
Breathes there one to equal me,
Who before me will not flee?”
Quoth a squaw: “Yes, one.”

“Name him,” angry Glooskap cried,
“Baby,” said she, “And be warned—

Father, unusually tense,
cleaned his workshop and carved wood for seals.
In an instant he finished and showed the result to everyone,
including me, a child.
On the splendid stem of cherry wood
was a deer carved with a single knife.
His society was going to have an Imperial visit the next day,
and he was ordered to sculpt in the Imperial presence, father said.
The carving was a rehearsal.
Father took a bath, purified his body,
and the next day had flints sparked on himself and left home.
He's going to show it to the Emperor, in person.

What I heard before the declaration of war
was that there was a battle near Hawaii.
At last we're going to fight in the Pacific.
Listening to the Imperial Proclamation, I trembled.
At this grave moment
my brains were distilled by an alembic,
yesterday became a remote past,
the remote past became now.
The Emperor in danger:
that phrase alone
determined everything for me.
The childhood grandfather was there,
father and mother were there.
The family clouds and mists of my boyhood days
rose and filled my room.