Earth
Voices
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I |
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I HEARD
the spring wind whisper
Above the brushwood fire,
“The world is made forever
Of transport and desire.
I am
the breath of being, |
5 |
The
primal urge of things;
I am the whirl of star dust,
I am the lift of wings.
“I am the splendid impulse
That comes before the thought,
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10 |
The
joy and exaltation
Wherein the life is caught.
“Across the sleeping furrows
I call the buried seed,
And blade and bud and blossom
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15 |
| Awaken
at my need.
“Within the dying ashes
I blow the sacred spark,
And make the hearts of lovers
To leap against the dark.”
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20 |
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I heard
the spring light whisper
Above the dancing stream,
“The world is made forever
In likeness of a dream.
“I am the law of planets,
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25 |
I am
the guide of man;
The evening and the morning
Are fashioned to my plan.
“I tint the dawn with crimson,
I tinge the sea with blue;
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30 |
My track
is in the desert,
My trail is in the dew.
“I paint the hills with color,
And in my magic dome
I light the star of evening
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35 |
| To steer
the traveller home.
“Within the house of being,
I feed the lamp of truth
With tales of ancient wisdom
And prophecies of youth.”
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40 |
III
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I heard
the spring rain murmur
Above the roadside flower,
“The world is made forever
In melody and power.
“I keep the rhythmic measure
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45 |
That
marks the steps of time,
And all my toil is fashioned
To symmetry and rhyme.
“I plow the untilled upland,
I ripe the seeding grass,
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50 |
And
fill the leafy forest
With music as I pass.
“I hew the raw, rough granite
To loveliness of line,
And when my work is finished,
|
55 |
| Behold,
it is divine!
“I am the master-builder
In whom the ages trust.
I lift the lost perfection
To blossom from the dust.”
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60 |
IV
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Then
Earth to them made answer,
As with a slow refrain
Born of the blended voices
Of wind and sun and rain,
“This is the law of being
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65 |
That
links the threefold chain:
The life we give to beauty
Returns to us again.”
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