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222
A New England Girlhood, Outlined from Memory (Beverly, MA)
·
Lucy Larcom
67
She
was
fond
of
giving
me
surprises,
of
watching
my
wonder
at
seeing
anything
beautiful
or
strange
for
the
first
time.
Once,
when
I
was
very
little,
she
made
me
supremely
happy
by
rousing
me
before
four
o'clock
in
the
morning,
dressing
me
hurriedly,
and
taking
me
out
with
her
for
a
walk
across
the
graveyard
and
through
the
dewy
fields.
The
birds
were
singing,
and
the
sun
was
just
rising,
and
we
were
walking
toward
the
east,
hand
in
hand,
when
suddenly
there
appeared
before
us
what
looked
to
me
like
an
immense
blue
wall,
stretching
right
and
left
as
far
as
I
could
see.
"Oh,
what
is
it
the
wall
of?"
I
cried.
It
was
a
revelation
she
had
meant
for
me.
"So
you
did
not
know
it
was
the
sea,
little
girl!"
she
said.
It
was
a
wonderful
illusion
to
My
unaccustomed
eyes,
and
I
took
in
at
that
moment
for
the
first
time
something
of
the
real
grandeur
of
the
ocean.
Not
a
sail
was
in
sight,
and
the
blue
expanse
was
scarcely
disturbed
by
a
ripple,
for
it
was
the
high-tide
calm.
That
morning's
freshness,
that
vision
of
the
sea,
I
know
I
can
never
lose.
From
our
garret
window--and
the
garret
was
my
usual
retreat
when
I
wanted
to
get
away
by
myself
with
my
books
or
my
dreams--we
had
the
distant
horizon-line
of
the
bay,
across
a
quarter
of
a
mile
of
trees
and
mowing
fields.
We
could
see
the
white
breakers
dashing
against
the
long
narrow
island
just
outside
of
the
harbor,
which
I,
with
my
childish
misconstruction
of
names,
called
"Breakers'
Island";
supposing
that
the
grown
people
had
made
a
mistake
when
they
spoke
of
it
as
"Baker's."
But
that
far-off,
shining
band
of
silver
and
blue
seemed
so
different
from
the
whole
great
sea,
stretching
out
as
if
into
eternity
from
the
feet
of
the
baby
on
the
shore!
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