WHO nearer Nature’s life would truly come <br />Must nearest come to him of whom I speak; <br />He all kinds knew,—the vocal and the dumb; <br />Masterful in genius was he, and unique, <br />Patient, sagacious, tender, frolicsome. <br />This Concord Pan would oft his whistle take, <br />And forth from wood and fen, field, hill, and lake, <br />Trooping around him in their several guise, <br />The shy inhabitants their haunts forsake: <br />Then he, like Æsop, man would satirize, <br />Hold up the image wild to clearest view <br />Of undiscerning manhood’s puzzled eyes, <br />And mocking say, “Lo! mirrors here for you: <br />Be true as these, if ye would be more wise.”<br /><br />Amos Bronson Alcott<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/thoreau/
