Sylvicola; Or, Songs from the Backwoods (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1878 edition. Excerpt: ... STANZAS. Hail sacred star of Zion's hill Light of all lands divine; Thy holy twilight lingers still, Soft gilding many a shrine. And many a heart is backward turned With kindling joy to where Judea's templed altar burned And prophets knelt in prayer. How sweetly woke that harp of old, How soft its cadence fell O'er many a mountain shepherd's fold By Sharon's flowery dell. And music, as of far-off heaven, Is round us melting still, Like murmurs of thy brook, rock-riven, By Kedron's holy rill; While echoes, breathing soft and low, Through slumbering years awake, Where Jordan's restless waters flow-By Galilee's sweet lake. Dear symbols, softly shadowing Him Who once these mountains trod--The lowly "Babe of Bethlehem," The suffering "Lamb of God." O star of Zion's sacred hill Light of all lands divine; Thy holy twilight lingers still And many a heart is thine. HOME SONG--IN MEMORY OF LAKE HURON. Though other climes are wondrous fair And beautiful to me, And in its tracery everywhere The Maker's hand I see; But O the power Of twilight's hour On such an eve would wake My soul to sweeter, nobler song By grand old Huron's lake. I miss the quiet of thy woods; The sunset o'er thy hills; The grandeur of thy solitudes; The music of thy rills. There's not a scene Where'er I've been So beautiful to me, And when I'd sing the songs of old, I turn, dear home, to thee. Through many a scene I've wandered long, And still my ftjet may roam, Since first I left that land of song--My native island home. Yet dearer still The rock and rill, The mountain and the brake, The maple on thy sunny hills, Afar by Huron's lake. I'd linger on thy golden strand, And by thy waters rest, To watch the waves that kiss thy sand, The sea bird on thy breast; While music sweet, ...