 | The Poetical Works of Aubrey De Vere |  |
II. CHRISTIAN EDUCATION.
What man can check the aspiring life that thrillsAnd glows through all this multitudinous wood;
That throbs in each minutest leaf and bud,
And, like a mighty wave ascending, fills
More high each day with flowers the encircling hills?
From earth's maternal heart her ancient blood
Mounts to her breast in milk! her breath doth brood
O'er fields Spring-flashed round unimprisoned rills!
Such life is also in the breast of Man;
Such blood is at the heart of every Nation
Not to be chained by Statesman's frown or ban.
Hope and be strong: fear and be weak! The seed
Is sown: be ours the prosperous growth to feed
With food, not poison—Christian Education!
| The Poetical Works of Aubrey De Vere | |