“I knew by the smoke that so gracefully curled”

I Knew by the smoke that so gracefully curled   Above the green elms, that a cottage was near, And I said, “If there ’s peace to be found in the world,   A heart that is humble might hope for it here!” It was noon, and on flowers that languished around   In silence reposed the voluptuous bee; Every leaf was at rest, and I heard not a sound   But the woodpecker tapping the hollow beech-tree. And “Here in this lone little wood,” I exclaimed,   “With a maid who was lovely to soul and to eye, Who would blush when I praised her, and weep if I blamed,   How blest could I live, and how calm could I die! “By the shade of yon sumach, whose red berry dips   In the gush of the fountain, how sweet to recline, And to know that I sighed upon innocent lips,   Which had never been sighed on by any but mine!”