Page:The Soul of a Century.djvu/90



My happiness has flown away, I seek it with tear-filled eyes; And people come to cheer me and say; “It can’t be otherwise.”

Oh, yes, good people, time will change, Believe me, it will be found. For it is not so very far, Just a few feet beneath the ground.

From Destiny’s hand I took my lot and toil; Like a seed sown at random upon the black soil.

Like a seed of rich grain that grows 'neath a warm clime And leans towards the earth in the fullness of time.

It blossoms and grows, yields a seed and no more; Like a seed I too visit on earth’s fertile shore.

Thus lives each man, though a leader or slave; I relish my life and fear not the grave.

To earth that once bore it, the stalk bends in twain; In a heavenly garden, I will blossom again.

The clouds are sailing toward the west, They coll me from above in vain, As I recline my head to rest “Come with us, once, come west again. Perhaps out there you could forget.” The clouds have passed; I too passed by Where the oceans roll and mountains rise, My path was marked for me on high, By troubled clouds two troubled eyes. These, too, I never could forget.

Life is so fair beyond the sea Where God all mankind rules and shields, Where arms are strong and hearts are free Beautiful are the rolling fields, To them who have learned to forget.