Take of English earth as much As either hand may rightly clutch, In the taking of it breathe Prayer for all who lie beneath -- Not the great nor well bespoke, But the mere uncounted folk Of whose life and death is none Report or lamentation. Lay that earth upon thy heart, And thy sickness shall depart! It shall sweeten and make whole Fevered breath and festered soul; It shall mightily restrain Over-busy hand and brain; It shall ease thy mortal strife 'Gainst the immortal woe of life, Till thyself restored shall prove By what grace the Heavens do move. Take of English flowers these -- Spring's full-faced primroses, Summer's wild wide-hearted rose, Autumn's wall-flower of the close, And, thy darkness to illume, Winter's bee-thronged ivy-bloom. Seek and serve them where they bide From Candelmas to Christmas-tide, For these simples used aright Can restore a failing sight. These shall cleanse and purify Webbed and inward-turning eye; These shall show thee tresure bid, Thy familiar fields amid; And reveal (which is thy need) Every man a King indeed! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...VISION OF BELSHAZZAR by GEORGE GORDON BYRON LINES TO WILLIAM LINLEY WHILE HE SANG A SONG TO PURCELL'S MUSIC by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE SUMMER IN ENGLAND, 1914 by ALICE MEYNELL THE HIGHER GOOD by THEODORE PARKER THE HOUSE OF LIFE: 38. THE MORROW'S MESSAGE by DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI SONNET: 138 by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE ENGLAND AND AMERICA: 1. ON A RHINE STEAMER by JAMES KENNETH STEPHEN |