 | Joaquin Miller's Poems |  |
110
ARBOR DAY
Against our golden orient dawns
We lift a living light to-day,
That shall outshine the splendid bronze
That lords and lights that lesser Bay.
We lift a living light to-day,
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.
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!
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.
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.
Here in this glorious Spanish bay,
We plant the cross, the Christian cross,
The Crusade Cross of Arbor Day.
| Joaquin Miller's Poems | |