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MOUNTAIN CHILDREN, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Dwellers by lake and hill!
Last Line: In the green path, beneath your gamesome tread!
Alternate Author Name(s): Botham, Mary


Dwellers by lake and hill!
Merry companions of the bird and bee!
Go, gladly forth, and drink of joy your fill,
With unconstrained step, and spirits free!

No crowd impedes your way,
No city wall impedes your further bounds:
Where the wild flock can wander, ye may stray
The long day through, 'mid summer sights and sounds.

The sunshine and the flowers,
And the old trees that cast a solemn shade;
The pleasant evening, the fresh dewy hours,
And the green hills whereon your fathers played; --

The grey and ancient peaks
Round which the silent clouds hang day and night;
And the low voice of water as it makes,
Like a glad creature, murmurings of delight; --

These are your joys! Go forth --
Give your hearts up unto their mighty power;
For in his spirit God has clothed the earth,
And speaketh solemnly from tree and flower.

The voice of hidden rills
Its quiet way into your spirit finds;
And awfully the everlasting hills
Address you in their many toned winds.

Ye sit upon the earth
Twining its flowers, and shouting full of glee;
And a pure mighty influence, 'mid your mirth,
Moulds your unconscious spirits silently.

Hence is it that the lands
Of storm and mountain have the noblest sons;
Whom the world reverences. The patriot bands
Were of the hills like you, ye little ones!

Children of pleasant song
Are taught within the mountain solitudes;
For hoary legends to your wilds belong,
And yours are haunts where inspiration broods.

Then go forth -- earth and sky
To you are tributary; joys are spread,
Profusely, like the summer flowers that lie
In the green path, beneath your gamesome tread!






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