Lyrics of Earth

<h2><SPAN name="LIFE_AND_NATURE" id="LIFE_AND_NATURE"></SPAN>LIFE AND NATURE</h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">I passed through the gates of the city,<br/></span> <span class="i2">The streets were strange and still,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Through the doors of the open churches<br/></span> <span class="i2">The organs were moaning shrill.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">Through the doors and the great high windows<br/></span> <span class="i2">I heard the murmur of prayer,<br/></span> <span class="i0">And the sound of their solemn singing<br/></span> <span class="i2">Streamed out on the sunlit air;<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">A sound of some great burden<br/></span> <span class="i2">That lay on the world's dark breast,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Of the old, and the sick, and the lonely,<br/></span> <span class="i2">And the weary that cried for rest.</span><br/></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</SPAN></span><span class="i0">I strayed through the midst of the city<br/></span> <span class="i2">Like one distracted or mad.<br/></span> <span class="i0">"Oh, Life! Oh, Life!" I kept saying,<br/></span> <span class="i2">And the very word seemed sad.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">I passed through the gates of the city,<br/></span> <span class="i2">And I heard the small birds sing,<br/></span> <span class="i0">I laid me down in the meadows<br/></span> <span class="i2">Afar from the bell-ringing.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">In the depth and the bloom of the meadows<br/></span> <span class="i2">I lay on the earth's quiet breast,<br/></span> <span class="i0">The poplar fanned me with shadows,<br/></span> <span class="i2">And the veery sang me to rest.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">Blue, blue was the heaven above me,<br/></span> <span class="i2">And the earth green at my feet;<br/></span> <span class="i0">"Oh, Life! Oh, Life!" I kept saying,<br/></span> <span class="i2">And the very word seemed sweet.<br/></span></div> </div> <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />