The Ruined Mill [pp. 366]

36~ The Ruined Mill. [Oct.~
THE RUINED MILL.
%$\~~ ~~~ N this far western El Dorado land
>~ ~" Of Of sudden, heaped-up mountains, rushing leaps
~There is a mountain stream that softly sweeps
Beneath the clustered willows where the pines
And glossy-leaved madrono branches meet
%? Above the banks of tangled blackberry vines;
Where Napa lays her proud head at the feet
I' Of St. Helena, and in summer time
The juicy grapes lie purpling in the sun;
Where wild birds carol in a twinkling rhyme
And all life 5 aims seem fading into one:
Scarcely to hope, or wish, or even plan,
But with the heart laid close to earth to dream
That thus it ever was since time began,
To dream and listen to this mountain stream.
Long years ago, one came and looked, and thought
To chain this wild fawn to a grinding wheel.
He barred its way with stubborn rock and taught
Its gathered drops to crush the grain to meal.
Ah well! he failed. I cannot tell you why.
At least the wheel is still; and so for years
The vines h~ve quivered with a tender sigh
And drawn fresh beauty from the gentle tears
The heavens dropped upon the silent mill.
They were such soft and clinging, loving vines,
So mossy, and the wheel has stood so still
That each caressing leaf aud tendril twines
Wherever it may please about the rim,
About the gray old paddles, to and fro
Along the flume and up the walls to dim
The sunlight on the broken floor below.
A worthless ruin in the eyes of trade,
Its round of daily toil forever past
The old mill nestles in the forest shade
At leisure to grow beautiful at last.
fsabel Darling.