Bayard Taylor was born at Kennett Square, Penn., Jan. 11, 1825. His mother, whose maiden2 name was Rebecca Way, was then twenty-nine years of age, and his father was thirty-one. The house then occupied was a two-story stone-and-mortar structure, such as are yet very common in the farming regions of central Pennsylvania. The house was long and narrow, having a porch that extended along the whole front. The rooms were small and low, but it was considered by the farmers of that time as a very comfortable and respectable home. It was located at the junction3 of two highways, and near the centre of the little hamlet called the “Square,” and sometimes the “Village.” But few families resided there in 1825, and the people were all more or less engaged in the cultivation5 of the soil. The little rude Quaker meeting-house, so box-like and cold in its aspect, was doubtless the centre of attraction, and the desire to be near the house of God, led those devoted[22] Quakers to build their dwellings6 on that portion of their lands which lay nearest the church.
The village has increased in growth, and now has a population of six or seven hundred, with several churches belonging to other denominations7, and very flourishing schools. But the old homestead building, in which Bayard was born, was destroyed by fire in 1876.
At the time of his birth, his father kept a miscellaneous stock of merchandise in one room of his house, and supplied the necessities of the farmers, so far as the small capital of a country store could anticipate their wants. Situated8 thirty-five miles from Philadelphia, to which place he was compelled to send the produce he received, and in which place he purchased his simple stock of goods, the merchant had a task on his hands which cannot be appreciated or understood in these days of railways, telegraphs, and commercial travellers. One of his neighbors, living in 1872, used to relate how Mr. Taylor, having had a call for two hay-rakes, which he could not supply, drove all the way to West Chester, the distance of a dozen miles, to get those tools for his customer.
At the time of Bayard’s birth, his parents had been married seven years. Their life had already been subject to many trials, and was fated to meet many more. Of a family of ten children, only one-half the number survived to see mature years. The losses by mercantile ventures, by failing crops, by sickness[23] and accidents, often swept away the hard earnings9 of many a month. Yet they struggled on, industrious10 and cheerful, keeping themselves and their children ever busy.
When Bayard was two or three years old, his father purchased a farm about a mile from the village, and giving up his mercantile avocations11, turned his whole attention to farming. On that farm Bayard spent the opening years of his life, and on one section of it did he build his beautiful home of “Cedarcroft.”
“The beginning and the end is here—
The days of youth; the silvered years.”
How deeply he loved his home, how sincere his affection for the rolling fields, the chestnut12 and the walnut13 woodland, the old stone farm-house, the clumsy barn, the old highway, the acres of corn and wheat, the distant village and its quaint14 old church, can be seen in a thousand expressions finding place in his published works. His poetical15 nature opened to his view beautiful landscapes and charming associations which others would not detect. The birds sang in an intelligible16 language; the leaves on the corn entered into conversation; the lowing of the cows could be interpreted; and the rocks were romantic story-tellers. He loved them all. That farm was his Mecca in all his travels. When he left, he says he promised bird, beast, trees, and knolls17, that he would return to them. To the writer, who went to Cedarcroft after[24] the poet’s death, and who has so long loved and admired his poetry, it seemed as if the trees patiently awaited his return. All things in nature must have loved and trusted him, or they would not have confided19 to him so many of their secrets.
Of the pastoral life in Pennsylvania he speaks with pleasing directness in his volume entitled “Home Pastorals.” In one place the aged4 farmer says:—
“Well—well! this is comfort now—the air is mild as May,
And yet ’tis March the twentieth, or twenty-first, to-day;
And Reuben ploughs the hill for corn: I thought it would be tough;
I’m glad I built this southern porch; my chair seems easier here:
I haven’t seen as fine a spring this five and twenty year.
And how the time goes round so quick: a week I would have sworn,
Since they were husking on the flat, and now they plough for corn!
Across the level Brown’s new place begins to make a show;
I thought he’d have to wait for trees, but, bless me, how they grow!
They say it’s fine—two acres filled with evergreens21 and things;
But so much land! it worries me, for not a cent it brings.
He has the right, I don’t deny, to please himself that way,
But ’tis a bad example set, and leads young folks astray:
Book-learning gets the upper hand, and work is slow and slack,
Well—I suppose I’m old, and yet it is not long ago
And William raked, and Israel hoed, and Joseph pitched with me,
But such a man as I was then my boys will never be!
[25]
I don’t mind William’s hankering for lectures and for books,
He never had a farming knack—you’d see it in his looks;
But handsome is that handsome does, and he is well to do:
’Twould ease my mind if I could say the same of Jesse, too.
’Tis like my time is nearly out; of that I’m not afraid;
I never cheated any man, and all my debts are paid.
They call it rest that we shall have, but work would do no harm;
There can’t be rivers there, and fields, without some sort o’ farm.”
No description in prose can as well describe his occupation as a boy, as his own lines, in the poem of the “Holly Tree.”
“The corn was warm in the ground, the fences were mended and made,
And the garden-beds, as smooth as a counterpane is laid,
Were dotted and striped with green, where the peas and the radishes grew,
Such was the farm when he left it, in words of the poet’s choosing, and what he found when, after a quarter of a century of wanderings, he can best describe.
Stands on review, and carries the scabbarded ears in its armpits.
Yonder, a mile away, I see the roofs of the village,—
[26]
Right and left are the homes of the slow, conservative farmers,
Loyal people and true; but, now that the battles are over,
Orderly, moral are they,—at least, in the sense of suppression;
Given to preaching of rules, inflexible39 outlines of duty:
Widely apart; but the trumpet-vine on the porch is a token:
Yea, and awake and alive are the forces of love and affection,
Plastic forces that work from the tenderer models of beauty.”
There must be many things in the events of common life which find no voice in poetry, as every life has its prose side. At all events, there were some duties connected with agricultural work which young Bayard never enjoyed. He never was ambitious to follow the plough, or do the miscellaneous odd jobs which perplex and weary a farmer’s boy. Yet, like Burns, he worked cheerfully, and wrung43 more or less poetry out of every occupation. He was a spare, wiry, nervous boy, quick at work, study, or play, and consequently had many leisure moments, when other boys were drudging along with ceaseless toil44. His schoolmates, and the only school-teacher now living (1879) who taught him in his boyhood, all agree that he was a mischievous boy. He loved practical jokes, and, in fact, jokes of every kind. But he was ceaselessly framing verses. When his lesson was mastered, which was always in an incredibly[27] short space of time after he took up his book, he plunged45 recklessly into poetry. Verses about the teacher, about snowbanks, about buttercups, about pigs, about courting, funerals, church services, schoolmates, and countless46 other themes filled his desk, pockets, and hat.
Often he wrote love letters, couched in the most delicate phraseology, and signing the name of some classmate to them, would send them to astonished ploughboys and blushing maidens47. One old gentleman in West Chester, Penn., always claimed that a set of Bayard’s burlesque48 verses, sent out in that way, induced him to court and marry a girl with whom he had no acquaintance, until the explanation of his tender epistle was demanded by her father. What volumes of poetry he must have written, which never saw the type, and how much more of that which he was in the habit of repeating to himself was left unwritten! The life he led, from his earliest school days, until he was fifteen years of age, was that of every farmer’s boy in America, who is compelled to work hard through the spring, summer, and autumn, and attend the district school in the winter. The only remarkable49 difference between Bayard and many other boys, was found in his strong desire to read, and his genius for poetry. He gathered the greater part of his youthful education from books, which he read at home, and by himself.
He had a noble father, and a lovely mother, God[28] bless them! and they made it as easy for Bayard as they could in justice to the other children. They might not have fully42 understood the signs of genius which he displayed; but they put no needless stumbling-blocks in his way. No better proof of this is needed, than the excellent record of the other children, all of whom hold enviable positions in society. One brother, Dr. J. Howard Taylor, is a physician, and connected with the health department of the city of Philadelphia; another, William W. Taylor, is a most skilful50 civil engineer; while a third, Col. Frederick Taylor, was killed at the battle of Gettysburg, when leading the celebrated51 Bucktail Regiment52 of Pennsylvania. Two sisters are living,—Mrs. Annie Carey, wife of a Swiss gentleman; and Mrs. Lamborn, wife of Col. Charles B. Lamborn, of Colorado. Growing up in such a family, as an elder brother, involved much patient toil, and great responsibility. The best tribute to him, in those days, was paid by an old lady, of Reading, Penn., who knew him in his youth, and who summed up her evidence to the writer in the words, “He did all he could.”
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1
mischievous
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| adj.调皮的，恶作剧的，有害的，伤人的 | |
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maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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junction
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| n.连接，接合；交叉点，接合处，枢纽站 | |
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aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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cultivation
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| n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成 | |
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dwellings
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| n.住处，处所( dwelling的名词复数 ) | |
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denominations
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| n.宗派( denomination的名词复数 )；教派；面额；名称 | |
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situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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earnings
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| n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得 | |
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industrious
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| adj.勤劳的，刻苦的，奋发的 | |
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avocations
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| n.业余爱好，嗜好( avocation的名词复数 )；职业 | |
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chestnut
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| n.栗树，栗子 | |
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walnut
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| n.胡桃，胡桃木，胡桃色，茶色 | |
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14
quaint
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| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
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poetical
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| adj.似诗人的；诗一般的；韵文的；富有诗意的 | |
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intelligible
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| adj.可理解的，明白易懂的，清楚的 | |
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knolls
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| n.小圆丘，小土墩( knoll的名词复数 ) | |
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knoll
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| n.小山，小丘 | |
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confided
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| v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的过去式和过去分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
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furrows
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| n.犁沟( furrow的名词复数 )；（脸上的）皱纹v.犁田，开沟( furrow的第三人称单数 ) | |
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evergreens
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| n.常青树，常绿植物，万年青( evergreen的名词复数 ) | |
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wrack
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| v.折磨；n.海草 | |
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mow
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| v.割（草、麦等），扫射，皱眉；n.草堆，谷物堆 | |
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sage
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| n.圣人，哲人；adj.贤明的，明智的 | |
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rue
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| n.懊悔，芸香，后悔；v.后悔，悲伤，懊悔 | |
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laurels
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| n.桂冠，荣誉 | |
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maize
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| n.玉米 | |
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tassel
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| n.流苏，穗；v.抽穗， （玉米）长穗须 | |
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rustling
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| n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的 | |
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engulfing
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| adj.吞噬的v.吞没，包住( engulf的现在分词 ) | |
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battalions
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| n.（陆军的）一营（大约有一千兵士）( battalion的名词复数 )；协同作战的部队；军队；（组织在一起工作的）队伍 | |
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plumes
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| 羽毛( plume的名词复数 )； 羽毛饰； 羽毛状物； 升上空中的羽状物 | |
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ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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colossal
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| adj.异常的，庞大的 | |
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crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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whittled
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| v.切，削（木头），使逐渐变小( whittle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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zealous
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| adj.狂热的，热心的 | |
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38
suffrage
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| n.投票，选举权，参政权 | |
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39
inflexible
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| adj.不可改变的，不受影响的，不屈服的 | |
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40
alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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41
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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42
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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43
wrung
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| 绞( wring的过去式和过去分词 )； 握紧（尤指别人的手）； 把（湿衣服）拧干； 绞掉（水） | |
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44
toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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45
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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46
countless
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| adj.无数的，多得不计其数的 | |
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47
maidens
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| 处女( maiden的名词复数 )； 少女； 未婚女子； （板球运动）未得分的一轮投球 | |
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48
burlesque
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| v.嘲弄，戏仿；n.嘲弄，取笑，滑稽模仿 | |
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49
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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50
skilful
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| (=skillful)adj.灵巧的，熟练的 | |
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51
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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52
regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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