These are the largess that we take of fate,
Take royally, as we were thrice crowned kings,
Nor stop to ask—the glimpse of higher goals,
The dreams that send our hearts on upward wings!
Take royally, as we were thrice crowned kings,
Nor stop to ask—the glimpse of higher goals,
The dreams that send our hearts on upward wings!
FLYING SOUTH
OUT of the ice-cold north they come,
The wild geese, flying high;
A zigzag streak of glancing gray,
An errant cloud blown far astray
Athwart the azure sky.
The wild geese, flying high;
A zigzag streak of glancing gray,
An errant cloud blown far astray
Athwart the azure sky.
Like fugitives that look not back
But take the path they know,
They shun the snow's keen-stinging smart,
And to the south's warm, waiting heart
On silken wings they go.
But take the path they know,
They shun the snow's keen-stinging smart,
And to the south's warm, waiting heart
On silken wings they go.
And there in lush of reedy fens,
Fanned by each fragrant breeze,
Through days of sun and nights of moon
That blend the year in one sweet June,
They take their slothful ease.
Fanned by each fragrant breeze,
Through days of sun and nights of moon
That blend the year in one sweet June,
They take their slothful ease.
They go, those soulless, gabbling ones,
And leave us here behind
In patience or in pain, to meet
The bitter bite of driving sleet,
The whips of racing wind.
And leave us here behind
In patience or in pain, to meet
The bitter bite of driving sleet,
The whips of racing wind.
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