Hamatreya
Bulkeley,
Hunt, Willard, Hosmer, Meriam, Flint,
Possessed
the land which rendered to their toil
Hay,
corn, roots, hemp, flax, apples, wool and wood.
Each
of these landlords walked amidst his farm,
Saying,
“This mine, my children’s and my name’s:
How sweet
the west wind sounds in my own trees!
How graceful
climb those shadows on my hill!
I fancy
these pure waters and the flags [irises]
Know
me, as does my dog: we sympathize;
And I
affirm, my actions smack of the soil.”
Where
are these men? Asleep beneath their grounds:
And strangers,
fond as they, their furrows plough.
Earth
laughs in flowers, to see her boastful boys
Earth-proud,
proud of the earth which is not theirs;
Who
steer the plough, but cannot steer their feet
Clear
of the grave.
They
added ridge to valley, brook to pond,
And sighed
for all that bounded their domain;
“This
suits me for a pasture; that’s my park;
We must
have clay, lime, gravel, granite-ledge,
And misty
lowland, where to go for peat.
The land
is well – lies fairly to the south.
Tis good,
when you have crossed the sea and back,
To find
the sitfast acres where you left them.”
Ah!
The hot owner sees not Death, who adds
Him to
his land, a lump of mold the more.
Hear
what the Earth says: -
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Earth-Song
“Mine
and yours;
Mine,
not yours.
Earth
endures;
Stars
abide –
Shine
down in the old sea;
Old are
the shores;
But where
are old men?
I who
have seen much,
Such
have I never seen.
“The lawyer’s
deed
Ran sure,
In tail,
To them,
and to their heirs
Who shall
succeed,
Without
fail,
Forevermore.
“Here
is the land,
Shaggy
with wood,
With
its old valley,
Mound
and flood.
But the
heritors?
Fled
like the flood’s foam, -
The lawyer,
and the laws,
And the
kingdom,
Clean
swept herefrom.
“They
called me theirs,
Who so
controlled me;
Yet every
one
Wished
to stay, and is gone,
How am
I theirs,
If they
cannot hold me,
But I
hold them?”
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
When
I heard the Earth-song
I
was no longer brave;
My
avarice cooled
Like
lust in the chill of the grave.