Page:Anthology of Magazine Verse (1921).djvu/139
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
The river town that water-oaks
And myrtles hide and bless
Has broken every law except
The law of kindliness.
And myrtles hide and bless
Has broken every law except
The law of kindliness.
And north and south and east the fields
Of cotton close it round,
Where golden billows of the sun
Break with no shade or sound.
Of cotton close it round,
Where golden billows of the sun
Break with no shade or sound.
Dear is the town, but in the fields
A little house could be,
If built with care and auspices,
A heart's felicity.
A little house could be,
If built with care and auspices,
A heart's felicity.
O friend, who love not much indoors
Or lamp-lit, peopled ways,
What of a field and house to pass
Our residue of days?
Or lamp-lit, peopled ways,
What of a field and house to pass
Our residue of days?
We'd learn of fret and labor there
A patience that we miss
And be content content to be
Nor wish nor hope for bliss.
A patience that we miss
And be content content to be
Nor wish nor hope for bliss.
With the immense untrammeled sun
For brother in the fields
And every night the stars' crusade
Flashing to us their shields.
For brother in the fields
And every night the stars' crusade
Flashing to us their shields.
We'd meet, perhaps, some dusk as we
Turned home to well-earned rest,
Unhurried Wisdom, tender-eyed,
A pilgrim and our guest.
Turned home to well-earned rest,
Unhurried Wisdom, tender-eyed,
A pilgrim and our guest.
William Alexander Percy
The North American Review
The North American Review
124