Lolling on a bank of thyme Drunk with Spring I made this rhyme. . . .
Though peoples perish in defeat, And races suffer to survive, The sunshine never was so sweet, So vast he joy to be alive; The laughing leaves, the glowing grass Proclaim how good it is to be; The pines are lyric as I pass, The hills hosannas sing to me.
Pink roses ring yon placid palm, Soft shines the blossom of the peach; The sapphire sea is satin calm, With bell-like tinkle on the beach; A lizard lazes in the sun, A bee is bumbling to my hand; Shy breezes whisper: "You are one With us because you understand."
Yea, I am one with all I see, With wind and wave, with pine and palm; Their very elements in me Are fused to make me what I am. Through me their common life-stream flows, And when I yield this human breath, In leaf and blossom, bud and rose, Live on I will . . . There is no Death.
Oh, let me flee from woeful things, And listen to the linnet's song; To solitude my spirit clings, To sunny woodlands I belong. O foolish men! Yourselves destroy. But I from pain would win surcease. . . . O Earth, grant me eternal joy! O Nature - everlasting peace!