Poems of Life and Love

I feel the great immensity of life.

All little aims slip from me, and I reach

My yearning soul toward the Infinite.

As when a mighty forest, whose green leaves

Have shut it in, and made it seem a bower

For lovers' secrets, or for children's sports,

Casts all its clustering foliage to the winds,

And lets the eye behold it, limitless,

And full of winding mysteries of ways:

So now with life that reaches out before,

And borders on the unexplained Beyond.

I see the stars above me, world on world:

I hear the awful language of all Space;

I feel the distant surging of great seas,

That hide the secrets of the Universe

In their eternal bosoms; and I know

That I am but an atom of the Whole.

In the rapture of life and of living,

ÊÊÊI lift up my heart and rejoice,

And I thank the great Giver for giving

ÊÊÊThe soul of my gladness a voice.

In the glow of the glorious weather,

ÊÊÊIn the sweet-scented, sensuous air,

My burdens seem light as a feather--

ÊÊÊThey are nothing to bear.

In the strength and the glory of power,

ÊÊÊIn the pride and the pleasure of wealth

(For who dares dispute me my dower

ÊÊÊOf talents and youth-time and health?),

I can laugh at the world and its sages--

ÊÊÊI am greater than seers who are sad,

For he is most wise in all ages

ÊÊÊWho knows how to be glad.

I lift up my eyes to Apollo,

ÊÊÊThe god of the beautiful days,

And my spirit soars off like a swallow,

ÊÊÊAnd is lost in the light of its rays.

Are you troubled and sad? I beseech you

ÊÊÊCome out of the shadows of strife--

Come out in the sun while I teach you

ÊÊÊThe secret of life.

Come out of the world--come above it--

ÊÊÊUp over its crosses and graves,

Though the green earth is fair and I love it,

ÊÊÊWe must love it as masters, not slaves.

Come up where the dust never rises--

ÊÊÊBut only the perfume of flowers--

And your life shall be glad with surprises

ÊÊÊOf beautiful hours.

Come up where the rare golden wine is

ÊÊÊApollo distills in my sight,

And your life shall be happy as mine is,

ÊÊÊAnd as full of delight.