Page:A Treasury of South African Poetry.djvu/300

274, to be out in the open!
 * Where the peace of God distills

In the whispering of leafy woods
 * And the lilt of limpid rills,

And the great calm of creation broods
 * On the strength of the holy hills.

Oh, to be out in the open!
 * With the blue sky over me,

Up-vaulting from the weather-gleam
 * Of the vast, encircling sea,
 * With its riplets roll'd
 * In Heaven's cloth of gold,
 * Or its great waves riding free,—
 * Their white crests lasht
 * By the stormy blast,—
 * Yet owning man's mastery,
 * As his brave bark sweeps
 * Through the surging deeps
 * To the haven where he would be!

Oh, to be out in the open!
 * Afar from the bigoted crew,

To walk in Heaven's light And press on to the right,
 * Whose virtue makes all things new,

Sweeping lies, in God's name, To the pit of their shame,
 * By homage to that which is true!