| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900. |
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| 289. The Gifts of God |
| | | By Jones Very |
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| THE LIGHT that fills thy house at morn, | |
| Thou canst not for thyself retain; | |
| But all who with thee here are born, | |
| It bids to share an equal gain. | |
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| The wind that blows thy ship along, | 5 |
| Her swelling sails cannot confine; | |
| Alike to all the gales belong, | |
| Nor canst thou claim a breath as thine. | |
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| The earth, the green out-spreading earth, | |
| Why hast thou fenced it off from me? | 10 |
| Hadst thou than I a nobler birth, | |
| Who callest thine a gift so free? | |
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| The wave, the blue encircling wave, | |
| No chains can bind, no fetters hold; | |
| Its thunders tell of Him who gave | 15 |
| What none can ever buy for gold. | |
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