THE TRAIL FROM THE SEA
5
And toil matters, amid the accustomed corn,And peace matters, the valley-spirit of peace, unprone to wander,Unprone to pierce to the world's end—and past it.And zephyrs matter, that never lift up a sail,Save that of the thistle voyaging over the meadow.And the lark—oh—the sunny lark—as well as the songless petrel,Who cries the foamy length of a thousand leagues.And silence matters, silence free of all surging,Silence, the spirit of happiness and home.
And oh how much the laugh of a child matters:More than the green of an island suddenly lit by sun at dawn.And friends, the greetings of friends, how they matter:More than ships that meet and fling a wild ahoy and pass,On any alien tides however enchanted.
