(From The School Of Queen Mab.)

Halloo! halloo! Wild woodland now! How the twinkling stars look down! And rocky and rude is the mountain’s brow, And dark is the forest’s frown. Ha! ha! the dens and brambled fens My wild eyes laugh to greet, And over the clifts and rocky rifts Right merrily dance my feet.

Pure is the gale, and odors rise From the wild woodland hill; Wo-hoo! Wo-hoo! the dark owl cries, And shrilly the whip-poor-will; But the deep tone of the owlet’s moan Is a note of courage all free, And the whip-poor-will’s trill beneath the hill Gives music and motion to me.

The farmers’ geese are very well fed, And fat and sleek are they;-- The blood-hound lies in his dreamy bed, So let me seek my prey. On drumming wings the partridge springs, As over the brakes I fly; But soon, like specks, the lily-white necks Will float before my eye.

Ha! ha! I’ll pause upon this height; The village is all in view; The two-legged bodies are still to-night, And I’ll the game pursue. But hark!--I hear a sound, I fear-- ’Tis surely not yet day-- O! ’tis the sound of the opening hound-- Away! away! away!

O’er bush, o’er brake, o’er rock I go, But nearer they come, I fear; Far off huzzas the two-legged foe-- Wow! wow!--the hounds are near. I’ll double my track, I’ll run me back, I’ll pother the beagles some-- Now for my den I’ll strain again, And gain my mountain home.

A SUMMONS TO THE COUNTRY.

Is it to sit within thy stately hall, Or tread the crowded street, thy chief delight? From all her heights and depths though Nature call Thee to her charms--though grove, and plain, and height, Warble for thee--though Ocean’s stormy might Thunder for thee--though the starred heavens sublime Shine out for thee--though peering orient bright O’er mountain wood, the sire of day and time Doth call for thee--and with retiring light Glance down his hues from their celestial clime To lure thee forth;--yet can all these excite In thy cold breast no chord’s responsive chime? Still wilt thou choose a prison-yard and cell?-- Well! God forgive thy choice, for thou dost penance well.

The following changes have been made to the text as printed:

1. Marked footnotes have been located immediately below the stanza, heading or paragraph to which they refer.

2. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.

3. Page 161 (Canto 8), heading to final stanza: "LXII" changed to "LXXII".

4. Notes, Page 185 (Canto 2): word "STANZA" prepended to heading "XXVIII".

5. Notes, Page 186 (Canto 2): heading "STANZA XXXVII" corrected to "STANZA XXXVIII".

6. Notes, Page 201 (Canto 5, Stanza 11, second note): reference to "stanza xxii" corrected to "stanza xxxiii".

7. Notes, Page 202 (Canto 5): heading "STANZA LXII" corrected to "STANZA LXIII".

The following anomalies in the printed text are noted, but no change has been made:

1. Spelling and hyphenation within the poem have been left unchanged, aside from obvious typographical errors.

2. Some compass directions are hyphenated within the poem, but unhyphenated in the Notes.

3. Within the Notes, the quotes from Williams' writings retain the archaic and sometimes variable spelling of his day.

4. Variant spellings of Native American names have not been amended.

5. Page 158 (Canto 8, Stanza 63), "And in all perils was there sure defence": "there" in the original is a possible reading; "their" a more likely one.

6. "Calendar" (Page 188), "Callender" (Page 196) and "Calender" (Page 203) all appear to refer to John Callender, who wrote "An Historical Discourse ... of the Colony of Rhode-Island", first published 1739.