But special I remember thee, Wachusett, who like me Standest alone without society. Thy far blue eye, A remnant of the sky, Seen through the clearing of the gorge, Or from the windows of the forge, Doth leaven all it passes by. Nothing is true, But stands ’tween me and you, Thou western pioneer, Who know’st not shame nor fear, By venturous spirit driven Under the eaves of heaven, And canst expand thee there, And breathe enough of air. Even beyond the West Thou migratest Into unclouded tracts, Without a pilgrim’s axe, Cleaving thy road on high With thy well-tempered brow, And mak’st thyself a clearing in the sky. Upholding heaven, holding down earth, Thy pastime from thy birth, Not steadied by the one, nor leaning on the other;-- May I approve myself thy worthy brother! THE RESPECTABLE FOLKS The respectable folks,-- Where dwell they? They whisper in the oaks, And they sigh in the hay; Summer and winter, night and day, Out on the meadow, there dwell they. They never die, Nor snivel, nor cry, Nor ask our pity With a wet eye. A sound estate they ever mend, To every asker readily lend; To the ocean wealth, To the meadow health, To Time his length, To the rocks strength, To the stars light, To the weary night, To the busy day, To the idle play; And so their good cheer never ends, For all are their debtors, and all their friends. POVERTY A FRAGMENT If I am poor, It is that I am proud; If God has made me naked and a boor, He did not think it fit his work to shroud. The poor man comes direct from heaven to earth, As stars drop down the sky, and tropic beams; The rich receives in our gross air his birth, As from low suns are slanted golden gleams. Yon sun is naked, bare of satellite, Unless our earth and moon that office hold; Though his perpetual day feareth no night, And his perennial summer dreads no cold. Mankind may delve, but cannot my wealth spend; If I no partial wealth appropriate, No armèd ships unto the Indies send, None robs me of my Orient estate. CONSCIENCE