Ellen Sturgis Hooper (17 Feb 1812 – 03 Nov 1848 | Boston MA – Boston MA) poet, Transcendentalist.

This bright wood-fire so like to that which warmed and lit my youthful days. No fear

for ghosts who from the dim past walked, and with us by the unequal light of the old

wood-fire talked. I slept, and dreamed life was Beauty; I woke, and found that life was

Duty. Beauty may be the path to highest good – the straightest path perhaps which may

be sought. He touched the earth, a soul of flame, filled with the heavens from whence

he came. Humanity, half cold and dead, had revived in genius’ glow. Dry lighted soul,

the ray that shines in thee is shot without reflex from primeval sun. Thou art the mountain

where we climb to see the land our feet have trod. Thou art deep and crystal winter sky,

where noiseless, one by one, stars appear. When the day’s heat and blinding dust are o’er,

we will cool our souls in refreshing air — and find the peace which we had lost before.

Ellen Sturgis Hooper Poetry. Excellence in Literature by Janice Campbell, 03 Feb 2021. Retrieved 01 Oct 2023. https://www.excellence-in-literature.com/ellen-sturgis-hooper-poetry/