Ralph Waldo Emerson - HamatreyaRalph Waldo Emerson - Hamatreya
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Bulkeley, Hunt, Willard, Hosmer, Meriam, Flint,
Possessed the land which rendered to their toil
Hay, corn, roots, hemp, flax, apples, wool and wood.
Each of these landlords walked amidst his farm,
Saying, "`Tis mine, my children`s and my name`s.
How sweet the west wind sounds in my own trees!
How graceful climb those shadows on my hill!
I fancy these pure waters and the flags
Know me, as does my dog: we sympathize;
And, I affirm, my actions smack of the soil.`
Where are these men? Asleep beneath their grounds:
And strangers, fond as they, their furrows plough.
Earth laughs in flowers, to see her boastful boys
Earth-proud, proud of the earth which is not theirs;
Who steer the plough, but cannot steer their feet
Clear of the grave.
They added ridge to valley, brook to pond,
And sighed for all that bounded their domain;
`This suits me for a pasture; that`s my park;
We must have clay, lime, gravel, granite-ledge,
And misty lowland, where to go for peat.
The land is well,—lies fairly to the south.
`Tis good, when you have crossed the sea and back,
To find the sitfast acres where you left them.`
Ah! the hot owner sees not Death, who adds
Him to his land, a lump of mould the more.
Hear what the Earth says:—
Earth-Song
`Mine and yours;
Mine, not yours, Earth endures;
Stars abide—
Shine down in the old sea;
Old are the shores;
But where are old men?
I who have seen much,
Such have I never seen.
`The lawyer`s deed
Ran sure,
In tail,
To them, and to their heirs
Who shall succeed,
Without fail,
Forevermore.
`Here is the land,
Shaggy with wood,
With its old valley,
Mound and flood.
"But the heritors?—
Fled like the flood`s foam.
The lawyer, and the laws,
And the kingdom,
Clean swept herefrom.
`They called me theirs,
Who so controlled me;
Yet every one
Wished to stay, and is gone,
How am I theirs,
If they cannot hold me,
But I hold them?`
When I heard the Earth-song,
I was no longer brave;
My avarice cooled
Like lust in the chill of the grave.
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