Here you will find thePoemOur First Familiesof poet Katharine Lee Bates
SWEET are the manners of the wood, Our only old society, Where all the folk are glad and good In unrebuked variety. Within this gentle commonweal No envy falls with fairy gold On jewel-weed and Solomon's seal, Moth mullein and marsh marigold. No rubied vines despise the lot Of ragged neighbors; whether moss Be flat or tufted matters not, Pale peat or glittering feather-moss. The common milkwort holds estates And wears his purple royalty; The bluets keep their ancient traits With quiet Quaker loyalty. These families of long descent, Our tutors in amenities, Have pedigrees of such extent They well may share serenities. Ere first the hollow Catacombs Thrilled to a Christian litany There bloomed beside the redmen's homes Spicebush and fragrant dittany. This rock's huge shadow rested on Gentian and nodding trillium Before the rise of Babylon, Before the fall of Ilium.
