POETRY why hawthorne was melancholy Robert Beum A life could be renewed: The land went on and on, Clearing and planting called: My own kind would have thought, Sometimes, Freshness is all. But wilderness. The stone No foot had ever warmed; Everyone on his own: No roots to lead the heart To its society- The cobblestones of love And mind, cloisters and knights Of mercy's justice. Here, Robert Beum taught history at a variety of Canadian colleges and universities for several decades. His essays have appeared in numerous scholarly journals. 107