In the Greenwood by Marie Van Vorst
The speaker flees the noise of the busy mart for a beloved home in the western countryside, following a small stream from its shining shallows to a secluded, deep pool hidden among rushes and white mallows. There, amid clear horizons, moving shadows, yellow sunlight, and the call of the greenwood dove, the speaker seeks sleep, dreams, and the pure life of fields and woods. The landscape’s deepest blue, hidden depth, and purity are repeatedly compared to the loved one’s eyes, heart, and love.
By Marie Van Vorst · First published 1915 · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Pastoral Poetry, Nature Poetry · 224 words
First lines
I fly like a bird to my home that lies / Far in the west, by a fair green hollow. / The straight, fine, meadow-line runs with the skies: / A clear horizon for sight to follow, / To leave, then rest where the zenith's blue, / Blue of the bluest, like my love's eyes!
I leave the noise of the busy mart; / The small stream's mouth with its shining shallows; / I go with its going; till here, apart, / Hid by rushes and low white mallows, / Hushed in its singing it lieth deep -- / Deep of the deepest, like my love's heart!
What this Textopian page supports
In the Greenwood is listed on Textopian as a poem by Marie Van Vorst, dated 1915 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Marie Van Vorst
- Date: 1915 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Lyric Poetry, Pastoral Poetry, Nature Poetry, Romantic Poetry, Love Poetry
- Length: 224 words
- Structure: 1 section, 3 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for In the Greenwood by Marie Van Vorst
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
- Readability and classroom-planning context
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Genres
- Lyric Poetry — The work is a short, musical first-person poem focused on a single emotional experience, using rhythmic lines, repetition, and vivid imagery rather than narrative plot.
- Pastoral Poetry — It idealizes a retreat from the 'busy mart' into meadows, streams, fields, woods, birds, and rural stillness, presenting nature as pure and restorative.
- Nature Poetry — Its central imagery consists of a green hollow, meadow horizon, stream, rushes, mallows, sunlight, and the greenwood dove, all observed with affectionate sensory detail.
- Romantic Poetry — The speaker connects the beauty and purity of the natural world to a beloved's eyes, heart, and love, expressing idealized affection through emotional landscape imagery.
Tags
romance · historical fiction · American literature · early twentieth century · rural life · country setting · nature · love · courtship · social class · family relationships · society