StoryTitle("caps", "The Old Oaken Bucket") ?>
Old Oaken Bucket," by Samuel Woodworth (1785-1848), is a poem we
love because it is an elegant expression of something very dear and homely.
PoemStart() ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "How dear to this heart are the scenes of my childhood,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "When fond recollection presents them to view!", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "The orchard, the meadow, the deep-tangled wild-wood,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "And every loved spot which my infancy knew!", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "The wide-spreading pond, and the mill that stood by it,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "The bridge, and the rock where the cataract fell,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "The cot of my father, the dairy-house nigh it,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "And e'en the rude bucket that hung in the well—", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "The moss-covered bucket which hung in the well.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "That moss-covered vessel I hailed as a treasure,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "For often at noon, when returned from the field,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "I found it the source of an exquisite pleasure,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "The purest and sweetest that nature can yield.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "How ardent I seized it, with hands that were glowing,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "And quick to the white-pebbled bottom it fell;", "") ?>
PagePoem(289, "L0", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Then soon, with the emblem of truth overflowing,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "And dripping with coolness, it rose from the well—", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "The moss-covered bucket arose from the well.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "How sweet from the green mossy brim to receive it", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "As poised on the curb it inclined to my lips!", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Not a full blushing goblet could tempt me to leave it,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "The brightest that beauty or revelry sips.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "And now, far removed from the loved habitation,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "The tear of regret will intrusively swell.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "As fancy reverts to my father's plantation,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "And sighs for the bucket that hangs in the well—", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "The moss-covered bucket that hangs in the well!", "") ?>
PoemAttribution("100", SmallCapsText("Samuel Woodworth.")) ?>
PoemEnd() ?>