THOREAU'S FLUTE

		We, sighing, said, "Our Pan is dead;
			His pipe hangs mute beside the river;
			Around it wistful sunbeams quiver,
		But Music's airy voice is fled.
		Spring mourns as for untimely frost;
			The bluebird chants a requiem;
			The willow-blossom waits for him: --
		The Genius of the wood is lost."

		Then from the flute, untouched by hands,
			There came a low, harmonious breath:
			"For such as he there is no death;
		His life the eternal life commands;
		Above man's aims his nature rose:
			The wisdom of a just content
			Made one small spot a continent,
		And turned to poetry Life's prose.

		"Haunting the hills, the stream, the wild,
			Swallow and aster, lake and pine,
			To him grew human or divine, --
		Fit mates for this large-hearted child.
		Such homage Nature ne'er forgets,
			And yearly on the coverlid
			'Neath which her darling lieth hid
		Will write his name in violets.

		"To him no vain regrets belong,
			Whose soul, that finer instrument,
			Gave to the world no poor lament,
		But wood-notes ever sweet and strong.
		O lonely friend!  he still will be
			A potent presence, though unseen, --
			Steadfast, sagacious, and serene:
		Seek not for him, -- he is with thee."

					Louisa May Alcott

Louisa May Alcott

1832-1888

Although Louisa May Alcott is best remembered for her novels, Little Women and Little Men, her first published work, at the age of nineteen, was a poem titled, "Sunlight." Louisa's greatest influence was her father, Amos Bronson Alcott, a writer and teacher, who helped to encourage his daughter's writing career, by insisting on her keeping a diary as a child. He pioneered the controversial teaching methods of student involvement and learning sessions that were fun and enjoyable to children. Mr. Alcott was a transcendentalist whose best friends were Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Louisa and her sisters were tutored by these men and she spent many hours on Nature walks with Thoreau. The above poem was written by Ms. Alcott after his death, in honor of her friend and mentor. Thoreau and Alcott are both buried in the "Sleepy Hollow Cemetery."

Click To View Gravesites

Thoreau Resources		L.M. Alcott Link
Walden Pond		My "Walden Pond"
Sources		TEI Header

E-MAIL ME

E-MAIL The Project Director: Dr. Jeff Powers-Beck

Return to Digital Muse Project

Page Created by Teresa Epperson, November 1999