William Baxter Among the Pines (1852)

 

T H E

L A D I E S '   R E P O S I T O R Y .
N O V E M B E R,   1 8 5 2 .

 

A M O N G   T H E   P I N E S .
BY WILLIAM BAXTER.
IN the solemn woods,
    As the day declines,
Oft I stray alone,
    Listening to the pines.

Solemn, soft, and low,
    As the light grows dim,
Falls upon my ear,
    Pines! your vesper hymn.

Sweet that strain to me,
    As I musing stand,
As if heaven to earth
    Sent a harper band.

Then the music dies;
    On the evening air
Gentle murmurs float,
    Like a chanted prayer,

Flowing sadly from
    Hearts oppressed with fears;
While the eyes o'erflow
    With repentant tears.

Not the organ's peal,
    In cathedral dim,
Leads my thoughts to God,
    Like your plaintive hymn.

'Tis his breath that stirs
    Every rustling bough;
'Tis his voice I hear
    In each murmur low,

Saying, "Bend the knee,
    Feeble child of clay;
In this solitude
    He will hear thee pray."

Then in feeble words
    I send up my cry;
And that cry is heard
    Far above the sky.

Peace flows in my heart;
    Hushed are all my fears;
And my eyes are dim,
    But with grateful tears.

 

[The Ladies' Repository 12 (November 1852): 431.]

ABOUT THE ELECTRONIC EDITION

      William Baxter's "Among the Pines" was first published in The Ladies' Repository: A Monthly Periodical Devoted to Literature and Religion, Vol. 12, No. 11, November 1852, p. 431. This volume, edited by W. C. Larrabee, was published in Cincinnati by L. Swormstedt and A. Poe and in New York by T. Carlton and Z. Phillips.

      Addenda and corrigenda are earnestly solicited.

Ernie Stefanik
Derry, PA

Created 16 April 2000.
Updated 28 June 2003.

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