Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900.

By William ElleryChanning

308 Hymn of the Earth

MY highway is unfeatured air,

My consorts are the sleepless Stars,

And men my giant arms upbear,—

My arms unstained and free from scars.

I rest forever on my way,

Rolling around the happy Sun;

My children love the sunny day,

But noon and night to me are one.

My heart has pulses like their own,

I am their Mother, and my veins,

Though built of the enduring stone,

Thrill as do theirs with godlike pains.

The forests and the mountains high,

The foaming ocean and the springs,

The plains,—O pleasant Company,

My voice through all your anthem rings!

Ye are so cheerful in your minds,

Content to smile, content to share:

My being in your chorus finds

The echo of the spheral air.

No leaf may fall, no pebble roll,

No drop of water lose the road;

The issues of the general Soul

Are mirrored in its round abode.