A few years ago, James Whitcomb Riley, Indiana's famous poet, spent some time at the lake, and gave his impressions of it as
follows:
The green below and the blue above The waves caressing the shores they love; Sails in haven and sails afar, And faint as the water lilies are In inlets haunted of willow wands, Listless rowers, and trailing hands, With spray to gem them and tan to glove The green below and the blue above. The blue above and the green below. would that the world was always so. Always summer and warmth and light, With mirth and melody day and night; Birds in the boughs of the beckoning trees, Chirr of locusts, and whiffs of breeze World of roses that bud and bloom, The blue above and the green below. The green below and the blue above, High, young hearts and the hopes thereof, Kate in the hammock and Tom sprawled on The sward-like a lover’s picture drawn By the lucky dog himself, with Kate To moon o 'er his shoulder and meditate On a fat old purse or a lank young love The green below and the blue above. The blue above and the green below, Shadows and sunshine to and fro - Seasons for dreams - whate'er befall Hero, heroine, hearts and all. Wave of wildwood - the blithe bird sings, and the leaf-hid locust whets his wings Just as a thousand years ago- The blue above and the green below. |