Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, IN A NATIONAL PARK (IN GRATITUDE TO HENRY GEORGE), by MARGERY SWETT MANSFIELD


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

IN A NATIONAL PARK (IN GRATITUDE TO HENRY GEORGE), by                    
First Line: This soil is for remembrance that the land is ours
Last Line: "reclaimed their own, but ransomed beauty first."
Subject(s): George, Henry (1839-1897); National Parks


This soil is for remembrance that the land is ours,
Or should be ours, although the fences rise;
We grow a little bolder as we near the skies,
Mountains we claim, but not the valley's powers.
Possession breeds a plague within the land,
The streets are darkened by the dispossessed,
Earth is our common mother, but her breast
Was sold from those who did not understand.
These ranges bulge with beauty, not with bread;
But beauty being basic to our need,
They are the seal and ribband on the deed.
Call them a symbol. Carve, when we are dead,
"These people dying of a bitter thirst
Reclaimed their own, but ransomed beauty first."





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