alking from his home to the little
village where he was to start his practice, having learned, in his doubt
and loneliness, a great lesson in faith, he wrote the beautiful poem
that shows his genius at its best, and probably more than any other made
him famous, the ode _To a Waterfowl_.

When a little boy, he had prayed, in his simple way, that he might be a
great poet, and though he had outgrown the prayer, his desire was
unchanged. More than this, he had now produced two works that
undoubtedly showed genius. It is not surprising, then, that in a few
years a literary career was opened to him and he was able to give up the
law, for which he had no especial liking.

In 1825, after his marriage to a Miss Fairchild of Great Barrington, he
removed from that town to New York. There he became editor of the _New
York Review_ and _Athenaeum Magazine_; and a year later he accepted the
position of assistant editor of the _Evening Post_, a newspaper with
which he remained for the rest of his life, assuming in 1829 the office
of editor-in-chief. Though his contributions to this paper were not a
poet's work, they enabled him to unite his literary power with his deep
interest in the political concerns of the country, and for many years to
help direct public opinion during the most critical periods in the
history of the new nation. More than this, while steadily provided with
a good income he could spend his leisure hours among the quiet country
scenes where he found inspiration for his greatest works, his simple
nature poems.

The busy years of his life as a journalist were several times
interrupted by travel. Besides visiting Mexico, Cuba and various parts
of the United States, he made six voyages to Europe, and on the fourth
extended the journey to Egypt and the Holy Land. His _Letters of a
Traveller_ and _Letters from the East_ tell of the impressions he
received in these countries.

Besides translating the _Iliad_ and the _Odyssey_ and writing the two
fairy stories in verse, _Sella_ and _The Little People of the Snow_,
Bryant undertook no poetic work of any length. The poems for which his
name is most honored are the little lyrics in which the calm and beauty
of nature tell us of truths that never change. Among these, some that
are best liked by readers both young and old are _The Yellow Violet_,
_The Fringed Gentian_, _A Forest Hymn_, _The Planting of the Apple
Tree_, _Robert of Lincoln_, _The Gladness of Nature_, _March_ an