The Heart's Country. [Florence Wilkinson]
Hill people turn to their hills;
Sea-folk are sick for the sea:
Thou art my land and my country,
And my heart calls out for thee.
The bird beats his wings for the open,
The captive burns to be free;
But I — I cry at thy window,
For thou art my liberty.
Joyous-Gard. [Thomas S. Jones, Jr.]
Wind-washed and free, full-swept by rain and wave,
By tang of surf and thunder of the gale,
Wild be the ride yet safe the barque will sail
And past the plunging seas her harbor brave;
Nor care have I that storms and waters rave,
I cannot fear since you can never fail —
Once have I looked upon the burning grail,
And through your eyes have seen beyond the grave.
I know at last — the strange, sweet mystery,
The nameless joy that trembled into tears,
The hush of wings when you were at my side —
For now the veil is rent and I can see,
See the true vision of the future years,
As in your face the love of Him who died!
The Secret. [George Edward Woodberry]
Nightingales warble about it,
All night under blossom and star;
The wild swan is dying without it,
And the eagle crieth afar;
The sun he doth mount but to find it,
Searching the green earth o'er;
But more doth a man's heart mind it,
Oh, more, more, more!
Over the gray leagues of ocean
The infinite yearneth alone;
The forests with wandering emotion
The thing they know not intone;
Creation arose but to see it,
A million lamps in the blue;
But a lover he shall be it
If one sweet maid is true.
The Nightingale unheard. [Josephine Preston Peabody]