The writings of John Greenleaf Whittier, Volume 4.
John Greenleaf Whittier, Ed.

Let Indian ghosts, if such there be
     Who ply unseen their shadowy lines,
Call back the ancient name to thee,
     As with the voice of pines.

The shores we trod as barefoot boys,
     The nutted woods we wandered through,
To friendship, love, and social joys
     We consecrate anew.

Here shall the tender song be sung,
     And memory's dirges soft and low,
And wit shall sparkle on the tongue,
     And mirth shall overflow,

Harmless as summer lightning plays
     From a low, hidden cloud by night,
A light to set the hills ablaze,
     But not a bolt to smite.

In sunny South and prairied West
     Are exiled hearts remembering still,
As bees their hive, as birds their nest,
     The homes of Haverhill.

They join us in our rites to-day;
     And, listening, we may hear, erelong,
From inland lake and ocean bay,
     The echoes of our song.