Oh the beautiful breathing earth,
Clad in purple and decked with gold,
Oh the wealth of blossom! the song of birds,
The love that was told and untold!
Oh the madness of Summer everywhere.
In the still rapt sky and the wooing air.
And we who were nothing, only a part
Of the throbbing passionate mother-heart!

Oh the bitter desolate sea
Wild with hunger and waste with woe.
Wailing the pain of speechless souls
In its restless ebb and flow!
Oh the sob of life! oh the dirge of death,
That moaned in its voice, and breathed in its breath;
And you and I, who stood by the shore
Alone and apart for evermore !