Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: SONG OF THE DREAMER. I Was born a cabin maiden In the deep, uncultured wild, And grew almost to womanhood A free and fearless child ; I roamed the dark old forest, I climbed the waving tree— The rudest sports and wildest Were the rarest sports for me. TJnbraided locks hung ever O'er my shoulders brown and bare- 1 cared not for the lily skin, Or the glossy golden hair; No ruby sparkled on my lip, No light danced in my eye, No roses blushed upon my cheek, The cold world passed me by. E'en my loved and sainted mother But seldom on me smiled; She called me .oft her " trouble "— Her restless, dreaming child. ' My heart for love was longing, And a look of kindness given, Made it leap with joy and gladness, And turned my earth to heaven. But so seldom—oh ! so seldom Came love's sunny hours to me, That I learned to hold communion With each bird and flower and tree; - And whene'er I heard the breezes 'Mong the branches o'er my head, Or the murmuring of the rivulet Along its pebbly bed, They seemed to teach my longing soul Of higher, holier things, And to play a loftier melody Upon life's secret strings. The wild, full gush of music O'er the robin's chirping brood— The nimble-footed squirrel As it bounded through the wood— Made my light heart beat more lightly In my happiness and glee, And I dreamed of love unchanging— " / dreamed of all things free." Each wild flower's bright corolla Had a language for my ear, And their fragrance softly whispered, '"Twas our Father placed us here." And I loved—oh 1 how I loved them, In their simple beauty there— For they answered to my longings, From their wild beds, soft and fair. I loved the dark uprolling Of the clouds along the sky, And the d...