| George William (“A. E.”) Russell (1867–1935). Collected Poems by A.E. 1913. |
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| 155. The Joy of Earth |
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| OH, the sudden wings arising from the ploughed fields brown | |
| Showered aloft in spray of song the wild-bird twitter floats | |
| O’er the unseen fount awhile, and then comes dropping down | |
| Nigh the cool brown earth to hush enraptured notes. | |
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| Far within a dome of trembling opal throbs the fire, | 5 |
| Mistily its rain of diamond lances shed below | |
| Touches eyes and brows and faces lit with wild desire | |
| For the burning silence whither we would go. | |
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| Heart, be young; once more it is the ancient joy of earth | |
| Breathes in thee and flings the wild wings sunward to the dome | 10 |
| To the light where all the children of the fire had birth | |
| Though our hearts and footsteps wander far from home. | |
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