Matin Bells and Scarlet and Gold By "F. Harald Williams"[i.e. F. W. O. Ward]. First Edition |
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EDEN FLOWERS. |
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 | Matin Bells and Scarlet and Gold |  |
EDEN FLOWERS.
I put my labour to the plough,
I wrestled with the surly land
And fought the cruel stone and weed;
In hope that yet the fruited bough
Would blush in answer to the hand,
Which worked and planted living seed.
And, with the harrow, like an arrow
My prayer went up a golden creed,
As if it were a winged command.
I drudged through darkness, and no time
Was spared to hear the harvest chime;
Though nothing came but barren blame.
I wrestled with the surly land
And fought the cruel stone and weed;
In hope that yet the fruited bough
Would blush in answer to the hand,
Which worked and planted living seed.
And, with the harrow, like an arrow
My prayer went up a golden creed,
As if it were a winged command.
I drudged through darkness, and no time
Was spared to hear the harvest chime;
Though nothing came but barren blame.
I dropt my life itself, and sowed
My body in the hungry soil
And yielded to the yawning grave;
I grudged no treasure, and I owed
Not any pulse of grievous toil
Nor service such as fits the slave.
And then a glory beyond story
Broke from it, which earth never gave
And tyrant death could not despoil.
For from the crumbling of my flesh
My faded years bloomed out afresh,
In strange new powers like Eden flowers.
My body in the hungry soil
And yielded to the yawning grave;
I grudged no treasure, and I owed
Not any pulse of grievous toil
Nor service such as fits the slave.
And then a glory beyond story
Broke from it, which earth never gave
And tyrant death could not despoil.
For from the crumbling of my flesh
My faded years bloomed out afresh,
In strange new powers like Eden flowers.
| Matin Bells and Scarlet and Gold | |