Part 13 (1/2)
Yea, earth is generous The trees Strip nude as birth-time without fear, And their reward is year by year To feel their fulness but increase
The law of Nature is to give, To give, to give! and to rejoice In giving with a generous voice, And so trust God and truly live
But see this old, Who grasps it with such eager hold, To hold forever hard and fast:
As if to hold what God lets go; As if to hold, while all around Lets go, and drops upon the ground All things as generous as snow
Let go your greedy hold, I say!
Let go your hold! Do not refuse 'Till death comes by and shakes you loose, And sends you shaold?
The rich old-clad buttercup Became a miser, mean and old?
Ah, me! the coffins are so true In all accounts, the shrouds so thin, That down there you ht sew and sew, Nor ever sew one pocket in
And all that you can hold of lands Down there, below the grass, down there, Will only be that little share You hold in your two dust-full hands
XII
She comes! she comes! The stony floor Speaks out! And now the rusty door At last has just one word this day, With ious lips, to say
She comes! she comes! And lo, her face Is upward, radiant, fair as prayer!
So pure here in this holy place, Where holy peace is everywhere
Her upraised face, her face of light And loveliness, fro orient sun That pushes back the brow of night
How brave, how beautiful is truth!
Good deeds untold are like to this
But fairest of all fair things is A pious maiden in her youth:
A pious maiden as she stands Just on the threshold of the years That throb and pulse with hopes and fears, And reaches God her helpless hands
How fair is she! How fond is she!
Her foot upon the threshold there
Her breath is as a blossomed tree,-- This maiden mantled in her hair!
Her hair, her black, abundant hair, Where night, inhabited all night And all this day, will not take flight, But finds content and houses there
Her hands are clasped, her two small hands; They hold the holy book of prayer Just as she steps the threshold there, Clasped dohere she silent stands
XIII