THE LIBRARY 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES 
 
 GIFT 
 
 William P. IVreden
 
 "V-^^z-iSC-z-'O'-z- # 

 
 THE 
 
 STORY OF THE FOUNTAIN. 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLIAM CULLEN, BRYAXT. 
 
 Illustrated with Forty-two Engravings on Wood. 
 
 NEW VOIIK: 
 D. A PPL ETON A- r O M PA NY 
 
 Mix ( ( IAXXI.
 
 ENTERED, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1871, by 
 
 D. APPLETON & CO., 
 In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
 
 1 FOUNTAIN, that springest on this grassy slope," FENN. 
 
 " Thou dost wear 
 No stain of thy dark birthplace," FENN. 
 
 This tangled thicket on the bank above," 
 
 In and out 
 
 The chipping sparrow," 
 
 " the maple bur^t into ;i flush 
 
 FENN. 
 
 " There the spice-bush lifts 
 Her leafy lances," Hows. 
 
 Hows. 
 
 Not such thou wert of yore, ere yet the axe," FKNN. 
 
 Of scarlet flower.-.'' 
 
 Hows. 
 
 ENGRAVER. I'AC.F. 
 
 Harley. '. 
 
 Harley. 10 
 
 Harley. 1 1 
 
 //. Linlon. 12 
 
 Karst. 13 
 
 llarley. 14 
 
 15
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 ARTIST. KNGRAVEK. PA(iK 
 
 " Hamming-birds 
 And silken-winged insects of the sky," FENN. Harley. 16 
 
 Frail wood-plants clustered round thy edge," Hows. Harley. 17 
 
 Here the quick-footed wolf," 
 
 FENN. Harley. 
 
 " The slow-paced bear," 
 
 " But thou hast histories," 
 
 " Each makes a tree his shield," 
 
 " and the dead remain 
 Mangled by tomahawks," FENN. 
 
 Figures of men that crouch and creep unheard," FENN. 
 
 " a hunter's lodge is built, 
 With poles and boughs," 
 
 FENN. 
 
 18 
 
 " The deer, too, left 
 Her delicate footprint " FENN. Filmer. 19 
 
 FENN. Bobbett. 20 
 
 FENN. Langridge. 2 1 
 
 " The Indian warrior, whom a hand unseen," FREDERICKS. //. Union. 22 
 
 " a throng of savage men 
 With naked arms," FREDERICKS. Bobbed. 23 
 
 FREDERICKS. Bobbttt. 24 
 
 Harley. 25 
 
 Filmer. 26 
 
 Harley. 27
 
 L AS 7" (> F 1LLUSTRATIO .\ > . 
 
 BUKJECT. ARTIST. ENGBAVER. PAGE 
 
 " flings down 
 The deer from his strong shoulders," FENX. Kami. 28 
 
 Loud the black-eyed Indian maidens laugh," FREDERICKS. Bobbett. 
 
 glistened in the frozen rains," 
 All around was heard the crash of trees," 
 
 ' The low of ox, and shouts of men who fired 
 The brushwood," 
 
 'The grain sprang thick and tall." 
 ranks of spiky maize," 
 
 FEXX. 
 
 White cottages wen- seen," 
 
 FEXX. 
 
 " Barns from which 
 Came loud and shrill," FENX. 
 
 " A rich turf 
 
 Of grasses," 
 
 Ha r leu. 
 
 FENX. Harley. 
 
 Karst. 
 
 FEXX. Harley. 
 
 29 
 
 30 
 
 FEXX. Lamgridge. 31 
 
 32 
 
 Hows. Harley. 33 
 
 PERKINS. Filmer. 34, 
 
 " the buckwheat 
 Whitened broad acres," Hows. Bobbett. 35 
 
 36 
 
 36 
 
 I'astures where rolled and neighed the lordly horse," FEXX. Harm/. 37 
 
 37
 
 " Blue-eyed girls," 
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 L'BJECT. ARTIST. 
 
 HOMER. 
 
 : Children, ruddy-cheeked," 
 
 UOMKR. 
 
 1 as they stooped to taste thy stream," * FENN. 
 
 ENGRAVER. PACK 
 
 Harley. 38 
 
 Harlcy. 39 
 
 Harley. 40 
 
 " The sportsman . . . bathed his heated brow," FENN. ffarlci/. 41 
 
 " Shouting boys, let loose 
 For a wild holiday," HOMER. Kdrst. 42 
 
 u The plumed soldier by thy side 
 Has sat," FREDERICKS. Bobbett. 
 
 " Lovers have gazed upon thee," 
 
 " Here the sage, 
 Gazing into thy self-replenished depth," 
 
 " strange arts to wither and deform," 
 
 FENN. Harley. 
 
 FREDERICKS. Bobbftt. 
 
 FENN. Karsl. 
 
 '' thy source be lost 
 Amidst the bitter brine," Hows. Filmer. 
 
 43 
 
 44 
 
 45 
 
 46 
 
 ' broken cliffs and airy peaks," 
 
 Hows. 
 
 W. J. Linlon. 48
 
 THE STOKY OF THE FOUNTAIN. 
 
 FOUNTAIN, that springest on this grassy slope, 
 Thy quick cool murmur mingles pleasant lv, 
 AVith the cool sound of breezes in the beech, 
 Above me in the noontide.
 
 Thou dost wear 
 
 No stain of thy dark birthplace ; gushing up 
 From the red mould and slimy roots of earth, 
 Thou flashest in the sun. The mountain-air, 
 In winter, is not clearer, nor the dew 
 That shines on mountain-blossom. Thus doth God 
 Bring, from the dark and foul, the pure and bright.
 
 
 
 ' 
 
 This tangled thicket on the hank above 
 Thy l>asin, how thy waters keep it ^reen ! 
 For tliou dost feed the roots of the wild vine 
 That trails all over it, and to the twigs 
 Ties t'a.>t her Hush-ix
 
 Tliere the spice-busli lifts 
 Her leafy lances ; the viburnum there, 
 Paler of foliage, to the sun holds up 
 Her circlet of green berries.
 
 In and out 
 
 The chipping sparrow, in her coat of brown, 
 Steals silently, lest I should mark her nest.
 
 : - ' ->^' : - '-*-^v'.>-*'" 
 
 \ I" : ' 
 
 ' 
 
 Not sucli thon wert of yore, ere yet the axe 
 Had smitten the old woods. Then hoary trunks 
 Of oak, and plane, and hickory, o'er thee held 
 A mighty canopy. When April winds
 
 Grew soft, the maple burst into a flush 
 ( )f M'.-irlrt flower-.
 
 The tulip-tree, high up, 
 Opened, in airs of June, her multitude 
 Of golden chalices to humming-birds 
 And silken-winged insects of the sky.
 
 Frail wood-plants clustered round thy edge in Spring. 
 The liver-leaf put forth her sister blooms 
 Of faintest blue.
 
 Here the quick-footed wolf,,. 
 Pausing to lap thy waters, 
 
 crushed the flower 
 Of sanguinaria, from whose 
 
 brittle stem 
 The red drops fell like blood.
 
 The deer, too, left 
 
 Her delicate footprint in the soft moist mould, 
 And on the fallen leaves.
 
 ? 
 
 1 ' 
 
 The slow-paced bear, 
 In such a sultry summer noon as this, 
 Stopped at thy stream, and drank, and leaped across
 
 But thou hast histories that stir the heart 
 With deeper feeling ; while I look 
 
 on thee 
 They rise before me. 
 
 I behold the scene 
 
 Hoary again with 
 forests ; 
 I behold 
 

 
 The Indian w r airior, whom a hand unseen 
 
 Has smitten with his death-wound in the woods, 
 
 Creep slowly to thy well-known rivulet, 
 
 And slake his death-thirst. Hark, that quick fierce cry
 
 That rends the utter silence ; 'tis the whoop 
 Of battle, and a throng of savage mm 
 "With naked amis and faces stained like blood, 
 Fill the green wilderness. The lon.u 1 ban- arms 
 
 23
 
 ' " \fM# JvO"*' ^Evi^M ' F 
 
 
 Are heaved aloft, bows twang and arrows stream ; 
 Each makes a tree his shield, and every tree 
 Sends forth its arrow. Fierce the fight and short, 
 As is the whirlwind. Soon the conquerors 
 
 ?4
 
 . 
 
 ; .. - - ;cr ',..:*<; 
 
 
 r/?ffeV 
 
 P| 
 
 And conquered vanish, and the dead remain 
 Mangled by tomahawks. The itiiu'lity woods 
 Are still a^ain, the frighted bird cnmcs hark 
 And plumes her wings ; but thy sweet waters run 
 Crimson with blood.
 
 Then, as the sun goes down, 
 Amid the deepening twilight I descry 
 Figures of men that crouch and creep unheard, 
 And bear away the dead. The next day's shower 
 Shall wash the tokens of the fight away.
 
 
 
 
 I look again a hunter's 
 
 is built, 
 With poles and boughs, beside \}\\ 
 
 crystal well, 
 While the meek Autumn stains tin- woods 
 
 with gold, 
 And sheds his golden sunshine.
 
 To the door 
 
 The red-man slowly drags the enormous bear 
 Slain in the chestnut-thicket, or flings down 
 The deer from his strong shoulders. Shaggy fells 
 Of wolf and cougar hang upon the walls, 
 28
 
 And loin! the black-eyed Indian maidens laugh, 
 That gatlu-r, from the rustling heaps of leaves, 
 The hickory's white nuts, and the dark fruit 
 That falls from the gray butternut's long boughs.
 
 4' 
 
 So centuries passed by, and still the woods 
 Blossomed in spring, and reddened when the year 
 Grew chill, and glistened in the frozen rains 
 Of winter, till the white man swung the axe
 
 Beside thee signal of a mightv 
 
 Then all around was heard the crash of trees, 
 
 Trembling awhile and rushing to the ground,
 
 The low of ox, and shouts of men who fired 
 
 The brushwood, or who tore the earth with ploughs.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 ' i 
 
 1 
 
 
 r- . / 
 
 I^*&is ^*?^*te^i Efe9K "-iJJ 5M* iv/, \\ -' 
 
 ' ^ / ^ Q^ \ \ < "> 
 
 . 1 1 
 
 m\$L*tf&\F --J fiP*^aXv\\ 
 
 Wv? :'3m/'-' 
 
 The jjjniin sprsinr thick and tall, and hid in green 
 The blackened hill-side ;
 
 ;_ij^" \-;\\'.- ' - -\^- ,f 
 -.w^V^' 
 
 Kanks of spiky maize 
 
 it/ 
 
 Rose like a host embattled ;
 
 t. 
 
 The buckwheat 
 iitciicil broad acres,
 
 Sweetening with its flowers 
 The August wind. White cottages were seen 
 With rose-trees at the windows ; hums from which 
 
 Caine loud and shrill the crowing of the cock ;
 
 Pastures where rolled arid neighed the lordly horse, 
 And white flocks browsed and bleated. A rich turf 
 
 
 ; 
 
 ^.fc" V, ", c . v 
 
 ' 
 
 : 
 
 \- 
 
 
 Of grasses brought from far o'ercrept thy hank, 
 Spotted with the white clover.
 
 
 Blue-eyed girls 
 Brought pails, and dipped them in thy crystal pool ; 
 
 38
 
 ''t *_._'( -I_ =^= =- -, 
 
 
 And eliildrci), niddy-clieeked and flaxen-haired, 
 (lathered the glistening cowslip from thy edirc. 
 
 3Q
 
 
 Since then, what steps have trod thy border ! Here 
 On thy green bank, the woodman of the swamp 
 Has laid his axe, the reaper of the hill 
 His sickle, as they stooped to taste thy stream.
 
 
 The sportsman, tired with wniidcrin^ in the still 
 September noon, has bathed his heated brow 
 In thy cool current.
 
 Shouting boys, let loose 
 For a wild holiday, have quaintly shaped 
 Into a cup the folded linden-leaf, 
 And dipped thy sliding crystal.
 
 From the wars 
 
 , the plumed soldier hy thy side 
 ll.i- sat, and mused ho\v pleasant 'twere to dwell 
 In such a spot, and he as free as thoii, 
 And move tor no man's hiddinir more. At 6V6,
 
 When thou wert crimson with the crimson sky, 
 Lovers have gazed upon thee, and have thought 
 Their mingled lives should flow as peacefully
 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 And brightly as thy waters. Hero the saire, 
 (iazin.i; into thy self-replenished depth, 
 lias seen eternal order circumscribe 
 And bind the motions of eternal change, 
 And from the ^ushin^ <>f thy simple fount 
 
 Has n-asoned to the mighty universe.
 
 Is there no other 
 
 for thee, that lurks 
 Among the future ;iir<>> '. 
 
 Will not man 
 Seek out strange arts to wither 
 
 and deform 
 The pleasant landscape which 
 
 thou makest ^reen? 
 Or shall the veins that feed 
 
 thy constant stream 
 Be choked in middle earth, 
 
 and flow no more 
 For ever, that the water-plants 
 
 along 
 Thy channel perish, and the 
 
 hird in vain 
 Aliirht to 
 drink ( 
 
 46
 
 Haply shall those green hills 
 Sink, with the lapse of years, into the i^nlt' 
 Of ocean-waters, and thy source he lost 
 Amidst the bitter l.nur ( Or shall they rise,
 
 Upheaved in broken cliffs and airy peaks, 
 Haunts of the eagle and the snake, and thoti 
 Gush midway from the bare and barren steep ?
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 Los Angeles 
 
 This book is DU&on the last date stamped below. 
 
 JAN 
 
 Form L9-42wt-8,'49 (B5573 ) 444 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 UNIVERSITY OF rif
 
 -BS- 
 
 Bryant - 
 
 1165 Story of the 
 Al f ountaitu 
 1881 
 
 3 1158 00016 6 
 
 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 A 001 372 632 8 
 
 PS 
 
 1165 
 Al 
 1881