Page:Near nature's heart; a volume of verse (IA nearnaturesheart00jack).pdf/47

 "But listen, Jay, just stop a spell— On Friday, luckless day, they tell, That you will dare to visit hell;       'Tis only Friday,        But always Friday—        If there you stray.        Then why I pray?"

"It's not your business, know you well, Why I on Friday go to hell.        Dja-ay! dja-ay!"

"My final word you may forestall; But I tell you plainly pride must fall; Old Pride is evil, born of the devil."

While flouncing so free In a white oak tree, Quite noisily, He answered me, With piercing eye, and look of evil:

"Hoo-ray! hoo-ray!       I'm a blooming Jay—        The devil, you say?        It's all my way—        Dja-ay! dja-ay! dja-ay!"

NATURE'S HEART

I search for Nature's heart beneath her dome, All free from jarring sounds; Out there my hungry spirit seeks a home, Out there, my feasting grounds.

I love the giant oak, the poplar and the pine, Aye, balmful to my soul; I greet my feathered friends, and they combine To make me captive whole.

I find no ghoul-like demon of the wood, Nor siren from the sea; A spirit high begets my ardent mood, But yields not me the key.

And dreaming in the vale, or on a mountain height, Awed by the great abyss, My soul doth plead an everlasting right, "The secret of all this?"

Both wild and winning are Mother Nature's ways, Many, varied, one; In all she sings my soul her mystic lays, From flower to rolling sun.