Alaskana, or, Alaska in descriptive and legendary poems . he place of honorFar above their stately grow, but hard and bitterIs the fruit they give in the noonday sun that warms themFor the rain that feeds their rootlets;And their trunks grow rough and gnarly,Though the winds but touch them gently, 64 ALASKANA. As they pass to tell the wondersOf their wild and icy steal along the cliff-sides,Stretch to catch unwary branches,Wander in and out unquestionedOver rocks and stony margins;Peering through the dark recessesOf the long, untrampled jungles,Whe
Alaskana, or, Alaska in descriptive and legendary poems . he place of honorFar above their stately grow, but hard and bitterIs the fruit they give in the noonday sun that warms themFor the rain that feeds their rootlets;And their trunks grow rough and gnarly,Though the winds but touch them gently, 64 ALASKANA. As they pass to tell the wondersOf their wild and icy steal along the cliff-sides,Stretch to catch unwary branches,Wander in and out unquestionedOver rocks and stony margins;Peering through the dark recessesOf the long, untrampled jungles,Where no foot of man has everCrushed the moss or torn the bramble-Where no hand has ere unbendedTo receive the purple berries,That are hung in tempting clustersOver brinks and rocky ledges,Hidden under thorny thickets,Nodding from the topmost upon the ground lie burstingWith their weight of ripened , with pale, shy blossoms,Hide away in sheltered cornersAnd, when tiny fruit is it close beneath their leaflets,. 1, Primeval Forest. FLORA IN ALASKA. 65 As if loath to let its beautyTempt some eager hand to gatherAnd to test the promised , bold and gracious,Reach their tinted fruit, invitingEvery passer-by to cull enjoy Alaskan , with rosy the feet to trend the tangleWhere they hold, with stunted maple,And with nodding plumes of alder,Undisturbed and free possessionOf the rich and oozy marshes-Fallen trunks of forest themselves, supply nutritionTo a myriad vines and bushes,Mosses, lichen, tiny tree-tops,That will sometimes stride their root-tipsEither side the stricken tree-stems,Living monuments erectingTo the silent, lifeless the pines and balmy spruces, 66 ALASKANA. Holding tender, requiem musicIn dieir young and sturdy branchesAnd diffusing softest shadinofLest the sunlight fall too grow in rich profusion,—Tall and stately plume
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookidalaskanaoral, bookyear1892
