“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?”
But here comes a maiden on her way to the “Nymph’s Grotto.” She is too young, and floats along too buoyantly, to have come by way of the rustic “Bridge of Sighs.” Barely eighteen, she cannot have interrupted her tripping course to rest in the “Widow’s Proposal Seat”; but in all probability she has stopped at the “Lily Cauldron” to admire the virgin bloom:
“The white water-lilies, they sleep on the lake, Till over the mountain the sun bids them wake.
At the rose-tinted touch of the long, level ray, Each pure, perfect blossom unfolds to the day.
Each affluent pearl outstretched and uncurled To the glory and gladness and shine of the world.”
1. Below the Falls 2. “What Have You Found?”
As the Truro vision in white, with happy lace and the light exulting step of early youth, passes by, it is evident she will never need to sit in the “Leap Year Engagement Seat,” where “no man may say ‘no’ to a self-respecting, modest woman.” Let us hope that the heart of the male to whom the leap-year question is here “popped” will not be affected by the “Cold Chamber” nearby. And see, our pretty maiden does not stop and rest in the “Irresistible Engagement Seat”; for is she not irresistibly engaging herself, without art or other allurement.
And now by a happy inspiration we guess her name. She is “Phyllis,” of course, and she is on her way to her own seat high up and tree-embowered, where her lover has long and impatiently waited her coming, as all true-lovers ever have done.
“Thou art a fool, said my head to my heart, Yea, the greatest of fools, thou art, To be caught with a trick of a tress; By a smiling face or a ribbon smart— And my heart was in sore distress.
Then Phyllis came by and her face was fair, And the sun shone bright on her golden hair, And her lips they were rosy red. Then my heart spake out with a brave, bold air— Thou art worse than a fool, O head!”
In the park will be found a spacious, amphitheatre-like picnic dell with tables and conveniences for those who must indulge in the prosaic occupation of eating. It is a delightful spot, and too much cannot be said in its praise.