The courtship of Miles Standish and other poems . to admit the light, while wind and rain were too he dug a well, and around it planted an orchard:Still may be seen to this day some trace of the well and the orchard. 92 THE COURTSHIP OF Close to the house was the stall, where, safe and secure from annoyance,Raghorn, the snow-white steer, that had fallen to Aldens allotmentIn the division of cattle, might ruminate in the night-timeOver the pastures he cropped, made fragrant by sweet pennyroyal. Oft when his labor was finished, with eager feet would the dreamerFollow the
The courtship of Miles Standish and other poems . to admit the light, while wind and rain were too he dug a well, and around it planted an orchard:Still may be seen to this day some trace of the well and the orchard. 92 THE COURTSHIP OF Close to the house was the stall, where, safe and secure from annoyance,Raghorn, the snow-white steer, that had fallen to Aldens allotmentIn the division of cattle, might ruminate in the night-timeOver the pastures he cropped, made fragrant by sweet pennyroyal. Oft when his labor was finished, with eager feet would the dreamerFollow the pathway that ran through the woods to the house of Priscilla,Led by illusions romantic and subtile deceptions of disguised as duty, and love in the sem-blance of of her he thought, when he fashioned the walls of his dwelling;Ever of her he thought, when he delved in the soil of his garden;Ever of her he thought, when he read in his Bible on SundayPraise of the virtuous woman, as she is described in the Proverbs,—. MILES STANDISH 93 How the heart of her husband doth safely trustin her always, How all the days of her life she will do himgood, and not evil, How she seeketh the wool and the flax and work-eth with gladness, How she layeth her hand to the spindle and hold-eth the distaff, How she is not afraid of the snow for herself orher household. Knowing her household are clothed with the scar-let cloth of her weaving! So as she sat at her wheel one afternoon inthe Autumn, Alden, who opposite sat, and was watching herdexterous fingers. As if the thread she was spinning were that of hislife and his fortune, After a pause in their talk, thus spake to the soundof the spindle. Truly, Priscilla, he said, when I see you spin-ning and spinning, Never idle a moment, but thrifty and thoughtfulof others. 94 THE COURTSHIP OF Suddenly you are transformed, are visibly changed in a moment;You are no longer Priscilla, but Bertha the Beautiful the li
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Keywords: ., bookauthorlongfell, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookyear1910
