 | The Burdens of Belief and Other Poems |  |
THE LONELY MOOR
'Twas on a lonely moor
Where grass and heather grew;
And distant hills on hills arose,
In fading tints of blue.
Where grass and heather grew;
And distant hills on hills arose,
In fading tints of blue.
The Ocean, too, was seen
To far horizon spread;
And beauteous ships lay silently
Upon its gleaming bed.
To far horizon spread;
And beauteous ships lay silently
Upon its gleaming bed.
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No sound, save that of bird
Or insect in the air,
Or faint-heard bleat of browsing sheep,
Broke the soft stillness there.
Or insect in the air,
Or faint-heard bleat of browsing sheep,
Broke the soft stillness there.
The wild bee passing by
From bells of rich perfume
Left fading on the vacant ear
Its deep-toned, happy boom.
From bells of rich perfume
Left fading on the vacant ear
Its deep-toned, happy boom.
I thought upon the haunts—
The crowded haunts of care—
The breathing load of sin and woe
This beauteous world doth bear.
The crowded haunts of care—
The breathing load of sin and woe
This beauteous world doth bear.
Then wondered how the sky
Could breathe such breath of balm,
And how that vast expanse of sea
Could look so bright and calm.
Could breathe such breath of balm,
And how that vast expanse of sea
Could look so bright and calm.
No voice arose to speak
The festering ills of earth:
All nature lay as restingly
As 'twere her second birth.
The festering ills of earth:
All nature lay as restingly
As 'twere her second birth.
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Yet'mongst those soft, blue hills,
And on that shining sea,
I knew that sickness, pain and death
Were working constantly.
And on that shining sea,
I knew that sickness, pain and death
Were working constantly.
And far beyond my sight
In lands I could not see,
I thought how thus fair Nature smiles
On human misery.
In lands I could not see,
I thought how thus fair Nature smiles
On human misery.
I thought how richly breathes
Many a scented bower,
Where ruby-birds in sunbeams suck
The large magnolia flower.
Many a scented bower,
Where ruby-birds in sunbeams suck
The large magnolia flower.
While Afric's scourgèd race
In fetters bear their toil,
And turn with horrid patience o'er
The gorgeous-tinted soil.
In fetters bear their toil,
And turn with horrid patience o'er
The gorgeous-tinted soil.
I thought of that vast land
Which stretches far and wide,
From where the great South ocean rolls,
To Egypt's mystic tide.
Which stretches far and wide,
From where the great South ocean rolls,
To Egypt's mystic tide.
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I thought how large a part
Of this world's wondrous plan
Lies trodden under naked foot
Of most degraded man.
Of this world's wondrous plan
Lies trodden under naked foot
Of most degraded man.
A gentle wind arose,
Which o'er that moor did pass,
It bowed the hare and heather bells,
It waved the yellow grass;
Which o'er that moor did pass,
It bowed the hare and heather bells,
It waved the yellow grass;
And far along the moor
I marked that softest gale,
Until, methought, it struck the sea
And filled the joyous sail.
I marked that softest gale,
Until, methought, it struck the sea
And filled the joyous sail.
I know not whence it came,
Nor how its accents fell;
But the blessed words it spake to me,—
These, I remember well.
Nor how its accents fell;
But the blessed words it spake to me,—
These, I remember well.
It told me that this sense
Of beauty and of love,
So thirsty and so grieved on earth,
Must have its home above;
Of beauty and of love,
So thirsty and so grieved on earth,
Must have its home above;
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Where the glorious works of God
Retain His blessing still,
And that most glorious of all,
The human heart and will.
Retain His blessing still,
And that most glorious of all,
The human heart and will.
| The Burdens of Belief and Other Poems | |