Classic Poem

I

I HEARD the spring wind whisper
Above the brushwood fire,
" The world is made forever
Of transport and desire.

" I am the breath of being,
The primal urge of things;
I am the whirl of star dust,
I am the lift of wings.

" I am the splendid impulse
That comes before the thought,
The joy and exaltation
Wherein the life is caught.

" Across the sleeping furrows
I call the buried seed,
And blade and bud and blossom
Awaken at my need.

" Within the dying ashes
I blow the sacred spark,
And make the hearts of lovers
To leap against the dark."

II

I heard the spring light whisper
Above the dancing stream,
" The world is made forever
In likeness of a dream.

" I am the law of planets,
I am the guide of man;
The evening and the morning
Are fashioned to my plan.

" I tint the dawn with crimson,
I tinge the sea with blue;
My track is in the desert,
My trail is in the dew.

" I paint the hills with colour,
And in my magic dome
I light the star of evening
To steer the traveller home.

" Within the house of being,
I feed the lamp of truth
With tales of ancient wisdom
And prophecies of youth."

III

I heard the spring rain murmur
Above the roadside flower,
" The world is made forever
In melody and power.

" I keep the rhythmic measure
That marks the steps of time,
And all my toil is fashioned
Io symmetry and rhyme.

" I plough the untilled upland,
I ripe the seeding grass,
And fill the leafy forest
With music as I pass.

" I hew the raw rough granite
To loveliness of line,
And when my work is finished,
Behold, it is divine!

" I am the master-builder
In whom the ages trust.
I lift the lost perfection
To blossom from the dust."

IV

Then Earth to them made answer,
As with a slow refrain
Born of the blended voices
Of wind and sun and rain,

" This is the law of being
That links the threefold chain:
The life we give to beauty
Returns to us again"