. American lands and letters. as passed And the belfry edge is gained at last. Tis a bird I love with its brooding note, And the trembling throb in its mottled throat. Whatever tale in the bell is heard He broods on his folded feet unstirred. Or rising half in his rounded nest. He takes the time to smooth his breast, Then drops again with filmed eyes. And sleeps as the last vibration dies. I would that in such wings of gold I could my weary heart upfold; And while the world throngs on beneath, Smooth down my cares and calmly breathe; And only sad with others sadness, And only glad with others
. American lands and letters. as passed And the belfry edge is gained at last. Tis a bird I love with its brooding note, And the trembling throb in its mottled throat. Whatever tale in the bell is heard He broods on his folded feet unstirred. Or rising half in his rounded nest. He takes the time to smooth his breast, Then drops again with filmed eyes. And sleeps as the last vibration dies. I would that in such wings of gold I could my weary heart upfold; And while the world throngs on beneath, Smooth down my cares and calmly breathe; And only sad with others sadness, And only glad with others gladness. Listen, unstirred, to knell or chime. And, lapt in quiet, bide my time. Journalist and 3Ian of the World. After graduating at Yale (1827), Willis did someliterary work in Boston; at first as would seem atthe instigation of Peter Parley, who had pilotedso many young people over London Bridge andinto regions remote, in showy Annuals, Tokens,or Souvenirs. AVillis also established the Amer- EARLY WRITINGS OF WILLIS. loi. N. P. Willis. From a photograph ioa)u\i by Mr. Peter Gilsey. ican MontJdy, wherein his falchion of a pen madeits first slashes at those socio-romantic problemswhich he loved. In the Annnals we find him I02 AMERICAN LANDS &^ LETTERS. iu leash witli a certain Xatlianiel Hawthorne,whom (D. V.) we shall again encounter; suchnames, too, as Rufus Dawes, Grenville Mellen,James Percival, and that of our old friend , boh up and down njDon the pageswhich set forth the literary delights then in was occasional writing by Willis for the oldBoston Recorder—not yet so stiff with age, aswith its moral tenets ; and possibly, also, for thatYouths Co7npanion, the lively babe of the Re-corder oflBce (1827), since given ujj to a palatial ma-turity which delights myriads of young folk whonever knew the kind rigidities of the Recorder. But neither tokens nor keepsakes, brim as theymight with lush verse and luscious engravings,nor yet his American Mont
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