Loveliness of Earth
THE substance of the loveliness of earth
Wrought by the hand and woven with the brain,
All that is ours, for pleasure or for pain,
All we have made, thought, dreamed of, brought to birth —
And we, the brain that wove, the hand that wrought,
We that have seen and loved and caught the breath,
Who feel the glow of life, the chill of death,
Are ashes blown upon the wind — to naught.
Wrought by the hand and woven with the brain,
All that is ours, for pleasure or for pain,
All we have made, thought, dreamed of, brought to birth —
And we, the brain that wove, the hand that wrought,
We that have seen and loved and caught the breath,
Who feel the glow of life, the chill of death,
Are ashes blown upon the wind — to naught.
And yet we lift our faces from the dust
And all the eternal loveliness of God
Is ours to love, to touch, to make our own.
Shall we not leave our toys to mould with rust
And, loving still our nest beneath the clod,
Launch out upon the seas of light alone?
And all the eternal loveliness of God
Is ours to love, to touch, to make our own.
Shall we not leave our toys to mould with rust
And, loving still our nest beneath the clod,
Launch out upon the seas of light alone?
CHRISTINA CHAPIN