Had he expressed his feelings in one of his inimitable
ballads, it is possible that he might have been accepted, for neither she
nor he ever married. In the year of her death, he wrote his poem,
_Memories_, which recounts some recollections earlier than his Hartford
experiences:--
"A beautiful and happy girl,
With step as light as summer air,
Eyes glad with smiles, and brow of pearl
Shadowed by many a careless curl
Of unconfined and flowing hair;
A seeming child in everything,
Save thoughtful brow and ripening charms,
As nature wears the smile of Spring
When sinking into Summer's arms."
He was a Quaker and he came to Hartford in the homespun clothes of the cut
of his sect. He may have been thinking of Miss Russ and wondering whether
theology had anything to do with her refusal, when in after years he
wrote:--
"Thine the Genevan's sternest creed,
While answers to my spirit's need
The Derby dalesman's simple truth."
[Illustration: WHITTIER AT THE AGE OF TWENTY-NINE]
As Whittier was a skillful politician, he had hopes of making a name for
himself in politics as well as in literature. He was chosen to represent
his district in the state legislature and there is little doubt that he
would have been sent to the national congress later, had he not taken a
step which for a long time shut off all avenues of preferment.
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