"God of the Open Air!" God of the Human Heart! On heights, though Thou art there, of sorrow Thou art part. God of the forest arch! God of the altar-flame! Beneath the skies or groinéd roof, Thou art the same. Be it cathedral choir or swinging bird Thou hearest singing in Thy praise, They bring unto Thine ear the same sweet word From gargoyled tower or copse of bending sprays. In busy streets where we are smallest part Of currents gushing from the city's heart, In dens or gilded crypts of crime, some spark Of light I find,—some thought, some hope, some mark Of Thee, illuminating with Thy sweet control Some secret impulse of a sin-stained soul. In death throes of the hopes that fall When we to earth our dreams of service fling, In bitterness of joys that pall, In fruitless Autumn from a blossoming Spring,— Though we be dumb with failures, Thou art there, Bringing life-buoyance of the open air. In sickness when the pulse is low with midnight chill, And death-moths flutter round the candle's flare, Thou walkest softly on the night, and lo! the thrill Of life is in the light which follows where Thy footsteps make our dawn, "God of the Open Air." | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...FOREST FLOWERS by ROBERT FROST I SING OF LOVE by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON THE BLACK RUNNER by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON THE PICTURE (VENUS RECLINING) by EZRA POUND ANOTHER DARK LADY by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON AND THEY OBEY by CARL SANDBURG GOOD-BYE DOROTHY GAYLE: THE ROAD TO BUFFALO by KAREN SWENSON |