Page:Harlem Shadows (1922).djvu/63



Sweet life! how lovely to be here

And feel the soft sea-laden breeze

Strike my flushed face, the spruce's fair

Free limbs to see, the lesser trees'

Bare hands to touch, the sparrow's cheep

To heed, and watch his nimble flight

Above the short brown grass asleep.

Love glorious in his friendly might,

Music that every heart could bless,

And thoughts of life serene, divine,

Beyond my power to express,

Crowd round this lifted heart of mine!

But oh! to leave this paradise

For the city's dirty basement room,

Where, beauty hidden from the eyes,

A table, bed, bureau and broom