YE who rather Seek to gather Biding thought than fleeting pleasure, In the South what wonders saw ye? From the South what lesson draw ye? Wonders, passing thought or measure, -- Lessons, through a life to treasure. Ever living, Nature, giving Welcome wild, or soft caress, -- Scenes that sink into the being Till the eye grows full with seeing, And the mute heart can but bless Him that shaped such loveliness. Dark and wide ill Rivers idle, Wealth unwrought of sea and mine, -- Bays where Europe's fleets might anchor, -- Scarce Panama's waters blanker, Ere Columbus crossed the brine, Void of living sound or sign. God hath blest it, Man opprest it, -- Sad the fruits that mingling rise, -- Fallow fields, and hands to till them, Hungry mouths, and grain to fill them; But a social curse denies Labor's guerdon, want's supplies. Sunlight glances, Life that dances In the limbs of childhood there, -- Glowing tints, that fade and sicken In the pallid, famine-stricken Looks that men and women wear, Living types of want and care. Faith and patience, Mid privations, -- Genial heart and open hand; But, what fain the eye would light on, Pleasant homes to cheer and brighten Such a race and such a land, -- These, alas! their lords have banned. These things press on Us the lesson, Much may yet be done and borne, But the bonds that thus continue Paralyzing limb and sinew, From our country must be torn: Then shines out young Munster's morn. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...AT FREDERICKSBURG [DECEMBER 13, 1862] by JOHN BOYLE O'REILLY THE LORD OF BURLEIGH by ALFRED TENNYSON A SONG OF RICHES by KATHARINE LEE BATES PSALM 147 by OLD TESTAMENT BIBLE THE CHANCE by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN THE GREATER GIFT by MARGARET E. BRUNER |