Poems (Trask)/From Nature unto God
FROM NATURE UNTO GOD.
The wind that sweeps the fragrant waste Of billowy clover seas, And breathes its mystic music through The greenery of the trees; The summer sun that drops its gold On hill and plain and sea, The cooling shadows as they pass So still and noiselessly,—All these familiar sights and sounds Are beautiful to me.
The far blue hills that in the haze Of distance fade away, The fleecy white clouds, mountain-born, That love at home to stay; The stretch of mellow purple sky Arching in peace o'er all,—Building between the earth and heaven A thin dividing wall,—So thin that God can hear our prayers And answer when we call:
All these delightful things I love, Of earth, and sky, and air; They fill my soul with images Of light divinely fair! If such is earth beneath the curse Of lust, and pride, and sin, Earth where the threatening power of death Throughout all time has been,—What must be heaven, where naught of this Can ever enter in?
In all these gracious works I see God's mercy and His care; The world holds no place so remote His love cannot reach there. I cannot stray so far away Prayer will not find His ear; In every place I know and feel His strengthening Presence near; And if He loves and cares for me, What cause have I for fear?