Romanticism

** A Forest Hymn **
 * [[image:http://www.poetry-online.org/images/flower-2.jpg width="130" height="350"]] ||
 * [[image:http://www.poetry-online.org/images/flower-2.jpg width="130" height="350"]] ||
 * [[image:http://www.poetry-online.org/images/flower-2.jpg width="130" height="350"]] ||
 * [[image:http://www.poetry-online.org/images/flower-2.jpg width="130" height="350"]] ||
 * [[image:http://www.poetry-online.org/images/flower-2.jpg width="130" height="350"]] ||
 * [[image:http://www.poetry-online.org/images/flower-2.jpg width="130" height="350"]] ||
 * by William Cullen Bryant **
 * The groves were God's first temples. Ere man learned **
 * To hew the shaft, and lay the architrave, **
 * And spread the roof above them,---ere he framed **
 * The lofty vault, to gather and roll back **
 * The sound of anthems; in the darkling wood, **
 * Amidst the cool and silence, he knelt down, **
 * And offered to the Mightiest solemn thanks **
 * And supplication. For his simple heart **
 * Might not resist the sacred influences, **
 * Which, from the stilly twilight of the place, **
 * And from the gray old trunks that high in heaven **
 * Mingled their mossy boughs, and from the sound **
 * Of the invisible breath that swayed at once **
 * All their green tops, stole over him, and bowed **
 * His spirit with the thought of boundless power **
 * And inaccessible majesty. Ah, why **
 * Should we, in the world's riper years, neglect **
 * God's ancient sanctuaries, and adore **
 * Only among the crowd, and under roofs, **
 * That our frail hands have raised? Let me, at least, **
 * Here, in the shadow of this aged wood, **
 * Offer one hymn---thrice happy, if it find **
 * Acceptance in His ear. **
 * [[image:http://www.poetry-online.org/images/flower-1.jpg width="130" height="350" caption="A Forest Hymn a poem by William Cullen Bryant"]] ||
 * [[image:http://www.poetry-online.org/images/flower-2.jpg width="130" height="350"]] ||
 * [[image:http://www.poetry-online.org/images/flower-1.jpg width="130" height="350" caption="A Forest Hymn a poem by William Cullen Bryant"]] ||
 * [[image:http://www.poetry-online.org/images/flower-1.jpg width="130" height="350" caption="A Forest Hymn a poem by William Cullen Bryant"]] ||

** by William Cullen Bryant ** ** The groves were God's first temples. Ere man learned ** ** To hew the shaft, and lay the architrave, ** ** And spread the roof above them,---ere he framed ** ** The lofty vault, to gather and roll back ** ** The sound of anthems; in the darkling wood, ** ** Amidst the cool and silence, he knelt down, ** ** And offered to the Mightiest solemn thanks ** ** And supplication. For his simple heart ** ** Might not resist the sacred influences, ** ** Which, from the stilly twilight of the place, ** ** And from the gray old trunks that high in heaven ** ** Mingled their mossy boughs, and from the sound ** ** Of the invisible breath that swayed at once ** ** All their green tops, stole over him, and bowed ** ** His spirit with the thought of boundless power ** ** And inaccessible majesty. Ah, why ** ** Should we, in the world's riper years, neglect ** ** God's ancient sanctuaries, and adore ** ** Only among the crowd, and under roofs, ** ** That our frail hands have raised? Let me, at least, ** ** Here, in the shadow of this aged wood, ** ** Offer one hymn---thrice happy, if it find ** ** Acceptance in His ear. ** ||
 * ** A Forest Hymn **