Sea in Autumn
I KNOW how all the hollows of the land
Are bright with harvest; how with every breeze
Her largess autumn scatters from the trees,
And how the sheaves are piled on every hand.
Basks the brown earth ; her toil hath bought her ease.
Here is the lesson, plain to understand.
Yet there remaineth somewhat; pace the strand,
And watch awhile the vast, the infertile seas.
Are bright with harvest; how with every breeze
Her largess autumn scatters from the trees,
And how the sheaves are piled on every hand.
Basks the brown earth ; her toil hath bought her ease.
Here is the lesson, plain to understand.
Yet there remaineth somewhat; pace the strand,
And watch awhile the vast, the infertile seas.
Deeper than earth’s their calm ; from marge to marge
Wide stretched they lie, untroubled by the need
Of any fruitage; barren and content,
They know the secret of a hope more large
Than earth has guessed at; them a richer meed
Than toil can win th’ inscrutable heavens have sent.
Wide stretched they lie, untroubled by the need
Of any fruitage; barren and content,
They know the secret of a hope more large
Than earth has guessed at; them a richer meed
Than toil can win th’ inscrutable heavens have sent.
C. A. Price.