We are what we are made; each following day
Is the Creator of our human mould
Not less than was the first; the all-wise God
Gilds a few points in every several life,
And as each flower upon the fresh hillside,
And every colored petal of each flower,
Is sketched and dyed, each with a new design,
Its spot of purple, and its streak of brown,
So each man’s life shall have its proper lights,
And a few joys, a few peculiar charms,
For him round in the melancholy hours
And reconcile him to the common days. 
Not many men see beauty in the fogs
Of close low pine-woods in a river town;
Yet unto me not morn’s magnificence,
Nor the red rainbow of a summer eve,
Nor Rome, nor joyful Paris, nor the halls
Of rich men blazing hospitable light,
Nor wit, nor eloquence,—­no, nor even the song
Of any woman that is now alive,—­
Hath such a soul, such divine influence,
Such resurrection of the happy past,
As is to me when I behold the morn
Ope in such law moist roadside, and beneath
Peep the blue violets out of the black loam,
Pathetic silent poets that sing to me
Thine elegy, sweet singer, sainted wife.

March, 1833.

WRITTEN AT ROME

Alone in Rome.  Why, Rome is lonely too;—­
Besides, you need not be alone; the soul
Shall have society of its own rank. 
Be great, be true, and all the Scipios,
The Catos, the wise patriots of Rome,
Shall flock to you and tarry by your side,
And comfort you with their high company. 
Virtue alone is sweet society,
It keeps the key to all heroic hearts,
And opens you a welcome in them all. 
You must be like them if you desire them,
Scorn trifles and embrace a better aim
Than wine or sleep or praise;
Hunt knowledge as the lover wooes a maid,
And ever in the strife of your own thoughts
Obey the nobler impulse; that is Rome: 
That shall command a senate to your side;
For there is no might in the universe
That can contend with love.  It reigns forever. 
Wait then, sad friend, wait in majestic peace
The hour of heaven.  Generously trust
Thy fortune’s web to the beneficent hand
That until now has put his world in fee
To thee.  He watches for thee still.  His love
Broods over thee, and as God lives in heaven,
However long thou walkest solitary,
The hour of heaven shall come, the man appear.

1833.

WEBSTER

1831

Let Webster’s lofty face
Ever on thousands shine,
A beacon set that Freedom’s race
Might gather omens from that radiant sign.

FROM THE PHI BETA KAPPA POEM

1834