And, indeed, no young man could have valued it more than I did.
It contained selections from standard poets, and choice ones from
less familiar sources. One of the extracts was Wordsworth's
"Sunset among the Mountains," from the "Excursion," to read
which, however often, always lifted me into an ecstasy. That red
morocco book was my treasure. It traveled with me to the West,
and I meant to keep it as long as I lived. But alas! it was
borrowed by a little girl out on the Illinois prairies, who never
brought it back. I do not know that I have ever quite forgiven
her. I have wished I could look into it again, often and often
tbrough the years. But perhaps I ought to be grateful to that
little girl for teaching me to be careful about returning
borrowed books myself. Only a lover of them can appreciate the
loss of one which has been a possession from childhood.
Young and Cowper were considered religious reading, and as such I
had always known something of them. The songs of Burns were in
the air.
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