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Crosse, Andrew – Poems – To the Winds
Identifier
026649
Type of Spiritual Experience
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A description of the experience
TO THE WINDS.
"SAUCY Winds, come do your duty;
Play around my buoyant feet;
Soft or blustering as may suit ye,
I shall not from your force retreat!
"Sport in gusts, howe'er disdainful,
Welcome are those gusts to me;
The winds of heaven can ne' er be painful,
Come they from the land or sea.
"Ye sweep perchance from craggy mountain;
Thyme and wild mint flourish there!
Ye cross in spite the ruffled fountain,
But waft its coolness in your air.
"Sigh ye may in sullen sadness,
Still those sighs are made to heal;
Or rage aloud in phrensied madness,
Your wrath does but new charms reveal!
"What were the trees were ye to slumber,
Were there no gales their limbs to sway?
What were the flowers, their hues or number,
Did not ye give their scent away?
"What were the waves of listless Ocean,
Did not ye break its glassy sleep,
And rouse the bard to stern emotion,
As o'er the rocks the breakers leap?
"Nature ne'er meant this vast creation
To lie one dull lethargic whole,
But, mistress of her great vocation,
Gave to the mass a glowing soul.
"Thus from their deep recesses beaming,
Sprung life, and light, and joy, to bless;
And billowy waves, and waters streaming,
Their mighty Maker’s hand confess.
“And you, ye Winds, howe'er aspiring,
Slow in your course, I fain would find,
When brighter worlds my soul desiring,
Leaves its dull clay a wreck behind."