JOURNEY
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h, could I lay me down in this long grassAnd close my eyes, and let the quiet windBlow over me--I am so tired, so tiredOf passing pleasant places! All my life,Following Care along the dusty road,Have I looked back at loveliness and sighed;Yet at my hand an unrelenting handTugged ever, and I passed. All my life longOver my shoulder have I looked at peace;And now I fain would lie in this long grassAnd close my eyes.Yet onward!Cat birds callThrough the long afternoon, and creeks at duskAre guttural. Whip-poor-wills wake and cry,Drawing the twilight close about their throats.Only my heart makes answer. Eager vinesGo up the rocks and wait; flushed apple-treesPause in their dance and break the ring for me;Dim, shady wood-roads, redolent of fernAnd bayberry, that through sweet bevies threadOf round-faced roses, pink and petulant,Look back and beckon ere they disappear.Only my heart, only my heart responds.Yet, ah, my path is sweet on either sideAll through the dragging day,--sharp underfootAnd hot, and like dead mist the dry dust hangs--But far, oh, far as passionate eye can reach,And long, ah, long as rapturous eye can cling,The world is mine: blue hill, still silver lake,Broad field, bright flower, and the long white roadA gateless garden, and an open path:My feet to follow, and my heart to hold.
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