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Heart of New England

Chapter 44: JOHN TOWNSEND TROWBRIDGE
By Abbie Farwell Brown
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Poetry

About This Book

A lyric collection that moves through New England’s seasons, landscapes, and local history, blending pastoral description with folklore, legend, and occasional patriotic and religious reflections. Poems evoke shorelines, orchards, pine woods, and village life while honoring Pilgrim ancestry and the fortitude of pioneer women; other pieces imagine fairies, haunted houses, pirate lore, and convent gardens. Varied forms include children’s verses, contemplative nature lyrics, and occasional odes, united by a regionally rooted voice that balances celebration of place with quiet moral and communal meditation.

JOHN TOWNSEND TROWBRIDGE

FEBRUARY 12, 1916
Wizard of youth! How many years,
Since first we felt the story-spell,
Your name has thrilled the childish ears
That knew your magic well.
Dear noble head of snowy hair,
Face with the sunglow; keen, kind eyes;
Presence erect and debonair,
Heart generous and wise.
No more our Poet walks the land!
Your mellow voice no more is heard.
Oh, for the warm clasp of your hand,
The friendly, precious word!
But in the hearts whose love you share,
In countless friends you never met,
In the world’s childhood everywhere
Your life is singing yet.
Your merry quips; your thought’s pure gold;
Your knightly quest and champion cry;
The songs you sang, the tales you told—
Their echoes do not die.
They make a part of what we are,
Of all the best we think and do.
The land you loved is better far
Because her youth loved you!