ancient muse.
Will somebody kiss that bride for me?
I fling with my blessing, both boots and shoes!

To the lucky bridegroom I cry all hail!
He is sure of having, let come what may,
The sage advice of the wisest aunt
That ever her fair charge gave away.

The Hamilton bell, if bell there be,
Methinks is ringing its merriest peal;
And, shades of John Calvin! I seem to see
The hostess treading the wedding reel!

The years are many, the years are long,
My dreams are over, my songs are sung,
But, out of a heart that has not grown cold,
I bid God-speed to the fair and young.

All joy go with them from year to year;
Never by me shall their pledge be blamed
Of the perfect love that has cast out fear,
And the beautiful hope that is not ashamed!

An aged Quaker friend from England, himself a bachelor, was once
visiting Mr. Whittier, and was shown to his room by the poet, when the
hour for retiring came. Soon after, he was heard calling to his host in
an excited tone, "Thee has made a mistake, friend Whittier; there are
female garments in my room!" Whittier replied soothingly, "Thee had
better go to bed, Josiah; the female garments won't hurt thee."

[Illustration: JOSIAH BARTLETT STATUE, HUNTINGTON SQUARE, AMESBURY]

Here is a specimen of his frolicsome verse written after he was eighty
years of age. It deals largely in personalities, was meant solely for
the perusal of a few friends whom it pleasantly satirized, and was
never before in print. When the bronze statue of Josiah Bartlett was to
be erected in Amesbury, Whittier of course was called upon for the
dedicatory ode, and he wrote "One of the Signers" for the occasion. The
unveiling of the statue occurred on the Fourth of July, 1888, and as
might have been anticipated, the poet could not be prevailed upon to be
present. The day before the Fourth he went to Oak Knoll, "so as to keep
in the quiet," he said. But his thoughts were on the celebration going
on at Amesbury, and they took the form of drollery. He imagined himself
occupying the seat on the platform which had been reserved for him, and
these amusing verses were composed, the satirical allusions in which
would be appreciated by his townspeople. The president of the day was
Hon. E. Moody Boynton, a descendant of the signer, and the well-known
inventor of the bicycle railway, the "lightning saw," etc. He has the
reputat