54608: First Known when Lost

<p dir="ltr"> I never had noticed it until<br> 'Twas gone,---the narrow copse<br> Where now the woodman lops<br> The last of the willows with his bill<br> It was not more than a hedge overgrown.<br> One meadow's breadth away<br> I passed it day by day.<br> Now the soil is bare as a bone,<br> And black betwixt two meadows green,<br> Though fresh-cut faggot ends<br> Of hazel made some amends<br> With a gleam as if flowers they had been.<br> Strange it could have hidden so near!<br> And now I see as I look<br> That the small winding brook,<br> A tributary's tribbtary, rises there.<br></p>