Listen to the laughter of the brook that’s racin’ by!
Listen to the chatter of the black-birds on the fence!
Stand an’ see the beauties of the blue that’s in the sky-
Then ask of God why mortals haven’t any better sense
Than to quarrel an’ to battle
Where the guns an’ cannon rattle
An’ to slaughter one another an’ to fill the world with hate.
God brings the buds to blossom
Where the gentle breezes toss ’em
An’ the soul is blind to beauty that takes anger for its mate.
Listen to the singin’ of the robins in the trees!
See the sunbeams flashin’ where they’re mirrored by the stream!
Hear the drowsy buzzin’ of the honey-seekin’ bees,
Then draw a little closer to your God the while you dream.
When the world is dressed to cheer you
Don’t you feel Him standin’ near you?
When your soul drinks in the beauty of the wonders in His plan,
An’ you’ve put away your passions,
Don’t you think the works He fashions
In their beauty an’ their bigness mock the littleness of man?
Oh, I never walk an orchard nor a field with daisies strewn,
An’ I never stand bare-headed gazin’ everywhere about
At the living joys around me, be it morning, night or noon,
But I ask God to forgive me that I ever held a doubt.
Surely men must walk in blindness,
With the whole world tuned to kindness,
An’ all dumb an’ feathered creatures fairly bubblin’ o’er with glee
To devote themselves to madness
That can only end in sadness
An’ to think that they are being what God put them here to be.
