lest choir who struck their harps with joy
That from the Tempter's ordeal he had risen
An unhurt victor. Round the Throne they pour'd
Their gratulations that the born of clay
Tho' by that mystery bow'd which ever veils
The inscrutable counsels of the All-Perfect One,
Might with the chieftain of the Rebel Host
Cope unsubdued and heavenward hold his way.

THE RURAL LIFE IN NEW-ENGLAND.

INTRODUCTION.

It may be thought that the following poem, especially its opening Canto
is too minute and circumstantial in its descriptions. Yet the habitudes
of a past and peculiar generation, fast fading from remembrance, are
worthy of being preserved, though little accordant with romance,
perhaps with poetry. So rapid has been our progress as a people, that
dimness gathers over the lineaments of even our immediate ancestry. Yet
traits at one period despised, or counted obsolete, may at another be
diligently sought after and re-juvenated.

It has been observed that nations reaching their zenith, regard with
more complacency their rising morn, than the approaching west. France,
notwithstanding the precision given to her language by Richilieu, and
the Academy, turns back affectionately to her Troubadours and
Trouvires, to the long-drawn, scarce-readable "Romance of the Rose,"
and the itinerant Chronicles of Froissart. England is not indifferent
to Anglo-Saxon traditions, or the customs of her Norman dynasty.

A time may arrive when our posterity will not scorn to be reminded of
the primitive usages of their rural fathers. To that time, and to
unborn readers, this simple poem is dedicated.

L. H. S.

THE RURAL LIFE IN NEW-ENGLAND.

CANTO FIRST.

Peaceful is the rural life, made strong by healthful industry,
Firm in love of the birth-land, and the laws that govern it,
Calm through moderated desires and a primitive simplicity,
Walking filially with Nature as the Patriarchs walked with God.
Such have I beheld it in my native vales, green and elm-shaded.
Such hath it been depicted in their legends who went before me;
What therefore, I have seen and heard, declare I unto you
In measures artless and untuneful.
Fearless of hardship,
In costume, as in manners, unadorn'd and homely
Were our ancestral farmers, the seed-planters of a strong nation.
Congenial were their wives, not ashamed of the household charge,
Yoke-fellows that were help-meets, vigorous and of a good courage;
Revolting no