QUIETUDE.
Green banks above me and below A little stream that sings all day,A willow bough with buds a-row,And a tall pine tree, where I know A sharp-eyed squirrel hides away.
A little world of quietude Shut close from careless passers byWhere I may sit alone and broodOn the dim wisdom of the wood The mystery of the sea and sky.
Who knows but I may grow so wise If I sit there day after dayThat God will open to my eyesThe hidden world of life that lies So near, so very far away.
The world no heart may find untaught No mortal eyes unpurged may viewIt is with beauty so enwrought:The world the old magicians sought And long ago the wise men knew.
33
