“Beneath low hills, in the broad interval Through which at will our Indian rivulet Winds mindful still of sannup and of squaw, Whose pipe and arrow oft the plough unburies, Here, in pine houses, built of new-fallen trees, Supplanters of the tribe, the farmers dwell.” —E MERSON . The Musketaquid, or Grass-ground River, though probably as old as the Nile or Euphrates, did not begin to have a place in civilized history, until the fame of its grassy meadows and its fish attracted settlers out of Eng

“Come, come, my lovely fair, and let us try Those rural delicacies.” Christ’s Invitation to the Soul. Q UARLES At length, on Saturday, the last day of August, 1839, we two, brothers, and natives of Concord, weighed anchor in this river port; for Concord, too, lies under the sun, a port of entry and departure for the bodies as well as the souls of men; one shore at least exempted from all duties but such as an honest man will gladly discharge. A warm drizzling rain had obscured the morning, and t

        “The river calmly flows,     Through shining banks, through lonely glen, Where the owl shrieks, though ne’er the cheer of men         Has stirred its mute repose, Still if you should walk there, you would go there again.” —C HANNING . “The Indians tell us of a beautiful River lying far to the south, which they call Merrimack.” S IEUR DE MONTS , Relations of the jesuits , 1604. In the morning the river and adjacent country were covered with a dense fog, through which the smoke of our fire

“I thynke for to touche also The worlde whiche neweth everie daie, So as I can, so as I maie.” G OWER . “The hye sheryfe of Notynghame,     Hym holde in your mynd.” Robin Hood Ballads . “His shoote it was but loosely shott,     Yet flewe not the arrowe in vaine, For it mett one of the sheriffe’s men,     And William a Trent was slaine.” Robin Hood Ballads “Gazed on the heavens for what he missed on Earth.” Britania’s Pastorals When the first light dawned on the earth and the birds, awoke, and th

“On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye, That clothe the wold and meet the sky; And through the fields the road runs by         To many-towered Camelot.” T ENNYSON . Long before daylight we ranged abroad, hatchet in hand, in search of fuel, and made the yet slumbering and dreaming wood resound with our blows. Then with our fire we burned up a portion of the loitering night, while the kettle sang its homely strain to the morning star. We tramped about the shore, waked all t

“Man is man’s foe and destiny.” C OTTON . Early this morning, as we were rolling up our buffaloes and loading our boat amid the dew, while our embers were still smoking, the masons who worked at the locks, and whom we had seen crossing the river in their boat the evening before while we were examining the rock, came upon us as they were going to their work, and we found that we had pitched our tent directly in the path to their boat. This was the only time that we were observed on our camping-gr

“He trode the unplanted forest floor, whereon The all-seeing sun for ages hath not shone, Where feeds the moose, and walks the surly bear, And up the tall mast runs the woodpecker.      *     *     *     *     * Where darkness found him he lay glad at night; There the red morning touched him with its light.      *     *     *     *     * Go where he will, the wise man is at home, His hearth the earth,—his hall the azure dome; Where his clear spirit leads him, there’s his road, By God’s own light

            “The Boteman strayt Held on his course with stayed stedfastnesse, Ne ever shroncke, ne ever sought to bayt His tryed armes for toylesome wearinesse; But with his oares did sweepe the watry wildernesse.” S PENSER .             “Summer’s robe grows Dusky, and like an oft-dyed garment shows.” D ONNE . As we lay awake long before daybreak, listening to the rippling of the river, and the rustling of the leaves, in suspense whether the wind blew up or down the stream, was favorable or unfa