TO THE TREES
Trees of the forest and the wooded glen,
Say will ye claim companionship with men
Who with a smaller, weaker arm have dared
To spill thy life-sap on thy native sward,
And with remorseless hand thy fibers rend,
Say, canst thou make this enemy thy friend?
Not ours to choose, a thousand gifts attest
That we by thy existence are but blest,
We at thy feet might sit and learn,
Nor feel a spark of just resentment burn;
But ye possess a more than human grace
To smile upon the spoilers of thy race.
Say will ye claim companionship with men
Who with a smaller, weaker arm have dared
To spill thy life-sap on thy native sward,
And with remorseless hand thy fibers rend,
Say, canst thou make this enemy thy friend?
Not ours to choose, a thousand gifts attest
That we by thy existence are but blest,
We at thy feet might sit and learn,
Nor feel a spark of just resentment burn;
But ye possess a more than human grace
To smile upon the spoilers of thy race.
WORTH WHILE.
Yet after all, who knows?
To make a real living, growing rose
Grow stem and leaf and blossom from the soil,
May be as glorious as to paint in oil
Its perfectness.
To make a real living, growing rose
Grow stem and leaf and blossom from the soil,
May be as glorious as to paint in oil
Its perfectness.
To preach great sermons may not be more great
Than to live holy doctrines, to create
Immortal poems, not more than to feel
Ennobling songs, that wreathed in numbers real,
Flow forth to bless.
Than to live holy doctrines, to create
Immortal poems, not more than to feel
Ennobling songs, that wreathed in numbers real,
Flow forth to bless.
Then shall I count one little act as naught?
There is no little work—no idle thought;
Each shall accomplish—if for good designed—
Part of the plan of the Creator's mind
For human happiness.
There is no little work—no idle thought;
Each shall accomplish—if for good designed—
Part of the plan of the Creator's mind
For human happiness.
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