Sweet Auburn: The Magazine of the Friends of Mount Auburn Mount Auburn as a Natural Habitat | Page 7

Christopher Pearse Cranch
(1813-1892) lightened the
transcendentalist movement
by illustrating Emerson’s essays
with comic drawings and writ-
ing two amusing juvenile nov-
els. He is buried in lot #5116
on Vesper Path.
A Spring Growl
If there comes a little thaw,
Still the air is chill and raw,
Here and there a patch of snow,
Dirtier than the ground below,
Dribbles down a marshy flood;
Ankle-deep you stick in mud
In the meadows while you sing,
“This is Spring.”
— Christopher Pearce Cranch
One of the earliest blooms is that
of the WITCHHAZEL with its
bright gold fuzzy blossoms.
Look for the earliest color near Wil-
low Pond and the Willow Court
Garden Crypts.
Early Spring Bloom
“There is a quiet spirit in these woods”
by Janet Heywood, Vice President of Interpretive Programs
Longfellow wrote of “The Spirit of Poetry” in a poem by that
name. He spoke of a “quiet spirit in these woods” that dwells
where south winds blow. He likened poetry to the “heavenly
forms we worship in our dreams” and the “soft hues that stain
the wild bird’s wing.” He saw poetry as the eloquent voice “in
all the sylvan pomp of woods, the golden sun, the flowers, the
leaves, the river on its way.” Here we combine some verses of
the beloved fireside poets of the 19th century as they muse on
winter changing to spring with images of the opening blooms of
the season. We encourage to you to read aloud and join in this
celebration of these New England seasons – from mud to joy!
Winter 2006 | 5