The Awakening
O I have watched God's fairest things
And heard sweet nature's melody;
Have felt the thrill that Pity brings
And sailed in tears its weed-strewn sea.
As blithe as any summer's day
I leapt for joy to suck the sweet
Of sunshine, dingle, meadow'd hay,
And all the treasures at my feet.
But now tho' banished far from these,
In grosser places turned and tossed,
I feel a purer, nobler ease,
New heather ways have now been crossed.
A something steals upon my breast
Whene'er I watch night's jewels shine:
It whispers "He has seen the test,
And thou wast faithful—Joy be thine!"
O Pride of Pride! how couldst thou see
That inner ray when half thy gaze
Was fixed on self, not pure and free,
But dimly peering through a haze?
And then I threw the bonds aside,
For thee, My Country, call'd to fight.
Forlorn, forgotten, self-defied,
1 know that I have seen the light.
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