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1828–1909

NATURE AND LIFE

George Meredith

Leave the uproar: at a leap Thou shalt strike a woodland path, Enter silence, not of sleep, Under shadows, not of wrath;

Breath which is the spirit's bath In the old Beginnings find, And endow them with a mind, Seed for seedling, swathe for swathe.

That gives Nature to us, this Give we her, and so we kiss. Fruitful is it so: but hear How within the shell thou art,

Music sounds; nor other near Can to such a tremor start. Of the waves our life is part; They our running harvests bear:

Back to them for manful air, Laden with the woodland's heart! That gives Battle to us, this Give we it, and good the kiss.

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NATURE AND LIFE · George Meredith · Poetry Cove