Down About Old Shakertown.

You may boast about the landscapes fair so far across the sea     Of castled Rhine, and southern France, and favored Italy--     But have you seen, when Springtime flings the scented blossoms down,     The forests and the meadows green around old Shakertown?     You may boast of some that bask beneath perpetual Summer's smiles--     Those "Eden's of the eastern wave"--the sunny Grecian isles--     And others that perhaps you've seen, of beauty and renown,     But come and view the country spread around old Shakertown!     O come and boast that you have been where Nature's lavish hand     Bestowed the gifts of wood and field that vie with any land--     Where valleys wear a velvet robe--the hills an emerald crown     Of bluegrass shimmering in the sun, around old Shakertown!     O come to old Kentucky then, and to her garden spot,     Then wander wheresoe'er you will, it ne'er will be forgot--     For Nature's face is wreathed in smiles nor wears a single frown     To mar the beauty she has spread around old Shakertown!