I
O WILD HEART, track the land's perfume, Beach-roses and moor-heather!
All fragrances of herb and bloom Fail, out at sea, together.
O follow where aloft find room Lark-song and eagle-feather!
All ecstasies of throat and plume Melt, high on yon blue weather.
O leave on sky and ocean lost The flight creation dareth;Take wings of love, that mounts the most:
Find fame, that furthest fareth!
Thy flight, albeit amid her host Thee, too, night star-like beareth, Flying, thy breast on heaven's coast, The infinite outweareth.
II
"Dead o'er us roll celestial fires;
Mute stand Earth's ancient beaches;
Old thoughts, old instincts, old desires, The passing hour outreaches;The soul creative never tires--
Evokes, adcres, beseeches;
And that heart most the god inspires Whom most its wildness teaches.
"For I will course through falling years And stars and cities burning;And I will march through dying cheers Past empires unreturning;Ever the world flame reappears Where mankind power is earning, The nations' hopes, the people's tears, One with the wild heart yearning.
GEORGE EDWARD WOODBERRY
End
