Against our golden orient dawns We lift a living light today, That shall outshine the splendid bronze That lords and lights that lesser Bay. Sweet Paradise was sown with trees; Thy very name, lorn Nazareth, Means woods, means sense of birds and bees, And song of leaves with lisping breath. God gave us Mother Earth, full blest With robes of green in healthful fold; We tore the green robes from her breast! We sold our mother's robes for gold! We sold her garments fair, and she Lies shamed and naked at our feet! In penitence we plant a tree; We plant the cross and count it meet. Lo, here, where Balboa's waters toss, Here in this glorious Spanish bay, We plant the cross, the Christian cross, The Crusade Cross of Arbor Day. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...IMPROMPTU TO LADY WINCHILSEA by ALEXANDER POPE THE DEATH-BED by SIEGFRIED SASSOON ODE TO LUDLOW CASTLE by LUCY AIKEN NOT YET by WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT LINES ON MY NEW CHILD SWEETHEART by THOMAS CAMPBELL |