Classic Poem

O marvel Nature, whisper it to me,
The secret full of haunting mystery!
Shall I not learn, if 'gainst earth's grassy side,
Pulsing with summer's generous-flowing tide,
Flinging me down, I deftly set mine ear?
Shall I not catch it in the melting, clear,
Heart-piercing notes of birds? Or, far from man,
Guess it on sun-bathed slopes, that breezes fan
To coolness? — whence I later may behold
A splendid pageant, blazing red and gold,
Eve's fiery jaws agape to swallow up
The sun, a glowing jewel in a cup
Of molten gold dissolved; then see the moon,
Rocked in her silver boat, set out alone
To voyage across the heavens, one keen star
With loving twinkle watching from afar.
Or when I fling my glance up into trees,
Straight to the topmost boughs in ecstasies,
To catch on myriad leaves the sun of noon's
Green glint? Or lie in denser woods, where swoons
The sunshine, seeing heaven's own blue entwine
With pointed fingers of the hairy pine?
Shall I not know it then, O Mother sweet,
What time I lie in rapture at thy feet? —
Tell me the meaning of this world I see
The secret tell, as thou art fair! — Are we
Here but to live, die, sleep, and be forgot?
Ah, marvel Nature, dost thou answer not?