Shaw, died shortly
after her marriage, of tuberculosis. This poem alludes to her and is in
its early lines the saddest poem Bryant ever wrote. Notice the change of
tone near the end.

29. unmeet: unsuitable.

THE GLADNESS OF NATURE

b. hang-bird: the American oriole, which hangs its nest from a branch.

8. wilding: the wild bee which belongs to no hive.

To THE FRINGED GENTIAN

No description of this flower can give an adequate idea of its beauty.
The following account, from Reed's "Flower Guide, East of the Rockies,"
expresses the charm of the flower well: "Fringed Gentian because of its
exquisite beauty and comparative rarity is one of the most highly prized
of our wild flowers." "During September and October we may find these
blossoms fully expanded, delicate, vase-shaped creations with four
spreading deeply fringed lobes bearing no resemblance in shape or form to
any other American species. The color is a violet-blue, the color that
is most attractive to bumblebees, and it is to these insects that the
flower is indebted for the setting of its seed.... The flowers are wide
open only during sunshine, furling in their peculiar twisted manner on
cloudy days and at night. In moist woods from Maine to Minnesota and
southwards."

This guide gives a good colored picture of the flower as do Matthews'
"Field Guide to American Wildflowers" and many other flower books.

8. ground-bird: the vesper sparrow, so called because of its habit of
singing in the late evening. Its nest is made of grass and placed in a
depression on the ground.

11. portend: indicate by a sign that some event, usually evil, is about
to happen.

16. cerulean: deep, clear blue.

SONG of MARION'S MEN

4. Marion, Francis (1732-1795), in 1750 took command of the militia of
South Carolina and carried on a vigorous partisan warfare against the
English. Colonel Tarleton failed o find "the old swamp fox," as he named
him, because the swamp paths of South Carolina were well known to him.
See McCrady, "South Carolina in the Revolution," for full particulars of
his life.

21. deem: expect.

30. up: over, as in the current expression, "the time is up."

41. barb: a horse of the breed introduced by the Moors From Barbary into
Spain and noted for speed and endurance.

49. Santee: a river in South Carolina.

32. throes: agony.

44. Compare this final thought with the solution in "To a "Waterfowl."

THE CROWDED STREET