THE OLD OAKEN BUCKET

By Samuel Woodworth



How dear to this heart are the scenes of my childhood,

When fond recollection presents them to view!

The orchard, the meadow, the deep tangled wildwood,

And every loved spot which my infancy knew;

The wide-spreading pond, and the mill that stood by it:

The bridge and the rock where the cataract fell:

The cot of my father, the dairy house nigh it,

And e'en the rude bucket which hung in the well:

The old oaken bucket, the ironbound bucket,

The moss-covered bucket which hung in the well.



That moss-covered vessel I hail as a treasure;

For often, at noon, when returned from the field,

I found it the source of an exquisite pleasure,

The purest and sweetest that nature can yield.

How ardent I seized it, with hands that were glowing,

And quick to the white-pebbled bottom it fell;

Then soon, with the emblem of truth overflowing,

And dripping with coolness it rose from the well:

The old oaken bucket, the ironbound bucket,

The moss-covered bucket arose from the well.



How sweet from the green mossy brim to receive it,

As poised on the curb, it inclined to my lips!

Not a full blushing goblet could tempt me to leave it,

Though filled with the nectar which Jupiter sips;

And now, far removed from thy loved situation,

The tear of regret will intrusively swell,

As fancy reverts to my father's plantation,

And sighs for the bucket which hangs in the well:

The old oaken bucket, the ironbound bucket,

The moss-covered bucket, which hangs in the well.





DEFINITIONS:

Cataract, a great fall of water.

Overflowing, running over.

Exquisite, exceeding, extreme.

Poised, balanced.

Goblet, a kind of cup or drinking vessel.

Nectar, the drink of the gods.

Intrusively, without right or welcome.

Reverts, returns.



EXERCISE:

Who was the author of "The Old Oaken Bucket"?

What does the poem describe? and what feeling does it express?

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