<div style="background:#fff;border:#bbb dashed 1px;padding:5px"><a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=409178" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><div style="margin:10px 0"><strong>God of the Open Air</strong></div><div style="margin:10px 0">I</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Thou who hast made thy dwelling fair<br>With flowers beneath, above with starry lights,<br>And set thine altars everywhere,--<br>On mountain heights,<br>In woodlands dim with many a dream,<br>In valleys bright with springs,<br>And on the curving capes of every stream:<br>Thou who hast taken to thyself the wings<br>Of morning, to abide<br>Upon the secret places of the sea,<br>And on far islands, where the tide<br>Visits the beauty of untrodden shores,<br>Waiting for worshippers to come to thee<br>In thy great out-of-doors!<br>To thee I turn, to thee I make my prayer,<br>God of the open air.</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>II</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Seeking for thee, the heart of man<br>Lonely and longing ran,<br>In that first, solitary hour,<br>When the mysterious power<br>To know and love the wonder of the morn<br>Was breathed within him, and his soul was born;<br>And thou didst meet thy child,<br>Not in some hidden shrine,<br>But in the freedom of the garden wild,<br>And take his hand in thine,--<br>There all day long in Paradise he walked,<br>And in the cool of evening with thee talked.</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>III</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Lost, long ago, that garden bright and pure,<br>Lost, that calm day too perfect to endure,<br>And lost the childlike love that worshipped and was sure!<br>For men have dulled their eyes with sin,<br>And dimmed the light of heaven with doubt,<br>And built their temple walls to shut thee in,<br>And framed their iron creeds to shut thee out.<br>But not for thee the closing of the door,<br>O Spirit unconfined!<br>Thy ways are free<br>As is the wandering wind,<br>And thou hast wooed thy children, to restore<br>Their fellowship with thee,<br>In peace of soul and simpleness of mind.</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>IV</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Joyful the heart that, when the flood rolled by,<br>Leaped up to see the rainbow in the sky;<br>And glad the pilgrim, in the lonely night,<br>For whom the hills of Haran, tier on tier,<br>Built up a secret stairway to the height<br>Where stars like angel eyes were shining clear.<br>From mountain-peaks, in many a land and age,<br>Disciples of the Persian seer<br>Have hailed the rising sun and worshipped thee;<br>And wayworn followers of the Indian sage<br>Have found the peace of God beneath a spreading tree.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">But One, but One,--ah, child most dear,<br>And perfect image of the Love Unseen,--<br>Walked every day in pastures green,<br>And all his life the quiet waters by,<br>Reading their beauty with a tranquil eye.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">To him the desert was a place prepared<br>For weary hearts to rest;<br>The hillside was a temple blest;<br>The grassy vale a banquet-room<br>Where he could feed and comfort many a guest.<br>With him the lily shared<br>The vital joy that breathes itself in bloom;<br>And every bird that sang beside the nest<br>Told of the love that broods o'er every living thing.<br>He watched the shepherd bring<br>His flock at sundown to the welcome fold,<br>The fisherman at daybreak fling<br>His net across the waters gray and cold,<br>And all day long the patient reaper swing<br>His curving sickle through the harvest-gold.<br>So through the world the foot-path way he trod,<br>Drawing the air of heaven in every breath;<br>And in the evening sacrifice of death<br>Beneath the open sky he gave his soul to God.<br>Him will I trust, and for my Master take;<br>Him will I follow; and for his dear sake,<br>God of the open air,<br>To thee I make my prayer.</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>V</div><div style="margin:10px 0">>From the prison of anxious thought that greed has builded,<br>>From the fetters that envy has wrought and pride has gilded,<br>>From the noise of the crowded ways and the fierce confusion,<br>>From the folly that wastes its days in a world of illusion,<br>(Ah, but the life is lost that frets and languishes there!)<br>I would escape and be free in the joy of the open air.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">By the breadth of the blue that shines in silence o'er me,<br>By the length of the mountain-lines that stretch before me,<br>By the height of the cloud that sails, with rest in motion,<br>Over the plains and the vales to the measureless ocean,<br>(Oh, how the sight of the things that are great enlarges the eyes!)<br>Lead me out of the narrow life, to the peace of the hills<br>and the skies.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">While the tremulous leafy haze on the woodland is spreading,<br>And the bloom on the meadow betrays where May has been treading;<br>While the birds on the branches above, and the brooks flowing under,<br>Are singing together of love in a world full of wonder,<br>(Lo, in the marvel of Springtime, dreams are changed into truth!)<br>Quicken my heart, and restore the beautiful hopes of youth.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">By the faith that the flowers show when they bloom unbidden,<br>By the calm of the river's flow to a goal that is hidden,<br>By the trust of the tree that clings to its deep foundation,<br>By the courage of wild birds' wings on the long migration,<br>(Wonderful secret of peace that abides in Nature's breast!)<br>Teach me how to confide, and live my life, and rest.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">For the comforting warmth of the sun that my body embraces,<br>For the cool of the waters that run through the shadowy places,<br>For the balm of the breezes that brush my face with their fingers,<br>For the vesper-hymn of the thrush when the twilight lingers,<br>For the long breath, the deep breath, the breath<br>of a heart without care,--<br>I will give thanks and adore thee, God of the open air!</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>VI</div><div style="margin:10px 0">These are the gifts I ask<br>Of thee, Spirit serene:<br>Strength for the daily task,<br>Courage to face the road,<br>Good cheer to help me bear the traveller's load,<br>And, for the hours of rest that come between,<br>An inward joy in all things heard and seen.<br>These are the sins I fain<br>Would have thee take away:<br>Malice, and cold disdain,<br>Hot anger, sullen hate,<br>Scorn of the lowly, envy of the great,<br>And discontent that casts a shadow gray<br>On all the brightness of the common day.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">These are the things I prize<br>And hold of dearest worth:<br>Light of the sapphire skies,<br>Peace of the silent hills,<br>Shelter of forests, comfort of the grass,<br>Music of birds, murmur of little rills,<br>Shadow of clouds that swiftly pass,<br>And, after showers,<br>The smell of flowers<br>And of the good brown earth,--<br>And best of all, along the way, friendship and mirth.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">So let me keep<br>These treasures of the humble heart<br>In true possession, owning them by love;<br>And when at last I can no longer move<br>Among them freely, but must part<br>From the green fields and from the waters clear,<br>Let me not creep<br>Into some darkened room and hide<br>From all that makes the world so bright and dear;<br>But throw the windows wide<br>To welcome in the light;<br>And while I clasp a well-beloved hand,<br>Let me once more have sight<br>Of the deep sky and the far-smiling land,--<br>Then gently fall on sleep,<br>And breathe my body back to Nature's care,<br>My spirit out to thee, God of the open air.</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br /></a><br />poem by <a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/by.php?a=Henry+Van+Dyke">Henry Van Dyke</a><div class=q> <img src="https://www.citatepedia.ro/g/32share.png" style="float:left" alt="Share"> <script type="text/javascript" src="//s7.addthis.com/js/300/addthis_widget.js#pubid=citatepedia" async="async"></script><div style="display:inline-block" class="addthis_sharing_toolbox" data-url="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=409178" data-title="God of the Open Air de Henry Van Dyke" data-description="I Thou who hast made thy dwelling fair With flowers beneath, above with starry lights, And set thine altars everywhere,-- On mountain heights, In woodlands dim with many a dream, In valleys bright with springs, And on the curving capes of every s..."></div> </div> </div>

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