Thus is it all over the earth! That which we call the fairest, And prize for its surpassing worth, Is always rarest. Iron is heaped in mountain piles, And gluts the laggard forges; But gold-flakes gleam in dim defiles And lonely gorges. The snowy marble flecks the land With heaped and rounded ledges, But diamonds hide within the sand Their starry edges. The finny armies clog the twine That sweeps the lazy river, But pearls come singly from the brine With the pale diver. God gives no value unto men Unmatched by meed of labor; And Cost of Worth has ever been The closest neighbor. All common good has common price; Exceeding good, exceeding; Christ bought the keys of Paradise By cruel bleeding; And every soul that wins a place Upon its hills of pleasure, Must give it all, and beg for grace To fill the measure. Up the broad stairs that Value rears Stand motives beck'ning earthward, To summon men to nobler spheres, And lead them worthward. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...DOMESTIC SONG by DAVID IGNATOW THE HEART'S RETURN by EDWIN MARKHAM DEEP IN THE NIGHT by SARA TEASDALE THE VOLUNTEER by HERBERT HENRY ASQUITH ON DIGITAL EXTREMITIES by FRANK GELETT BURGESS THE ARGUMENT OF HIS BOOK by ROBERT HERRICK EXILED by EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY |