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