Sometimes in my anger I try to elude her;
I call her a jade and an idle intruder;
But she kisses, caresses, and coaxes, and flatters
Till I build me a castle the next zephyr shatters.
When I firmly resolve I will listen no longer,
Than my will or my reason somehow she is stronger:
I chide her, deride her, despise her and doubt her,
And yet it is true I can’t live without her!
Earth, with all thy grief and sorrow,
And thy changes of to-morrow;
With thy woe and with thy parting,
With thy tears of anguish starting,
With thy countless heart-strings breaking,
With thy loved and lost forsaking,
With thy famished millions sighing,
With thy scenes of dead and dying,
With thy graveyards without number,
Where the old and youthful slumber;
Earth, oh, earth! thus dark and dreary,
Cold, and sad, and worn, and weary,
Thou art not my home!
Earth, oh, earth! with all thy slaughter
And thy streams of blood like water
O’er the field of battle gushing,
Where the mighty armies rushing,
Reckless of all human feeling,
With the war trump loudly pealing,
And the gallant banners flying,
Trample on the dead and dying;
Where the foe, the friend, the brother,
Bathed in blood sleep by each other;
Earth, oh, earth! thus dark and gory,
Blood and tears make up thy story,
Thou art not my home!
Earth, with all thy scenes of anguish,
Where the poor and starving languish,
To the proud oppressor bending,
And their cries for mercy blending;
Where the slave with bosom swelling,
Which despair has made its dwelling,
And the scalding tear-drops falling—
Sight to human hearts appalling—
Strives, but strives in vain to sever
Fetters that must bind him ever;
Earth, oh, earth! with each possession
Sold to tyrants and oppression,
Thou art not my home!
Earth, oh, earth! thy brightest treasures,
Like thy hopes and like thy pleasures,
Wintry winds are daily blighting;
Pain, and woe, and death uniting,
Youth and love and beauty crushing,
And the sweetest voices hushing;
Rich and poor, and old and blooming,
To one common mansion dooming;
While the cries of every nation
Mingle with those of creation;
Earth, oh, earth! thus dark and dreary,
Cold, and sad, and worn and weary,
Thou art not my home!
Earth, oh, earth! though dark and gory,
In thy pristine state of glory!
Angels came upon thee gazing,
Songs of love and rapture raising;
For thou then wast bright and beaming,
With the sunlight on thee streaming,
With thy crystal waters laving
Shores with fadeless forests waving;
With thy plains and with thy mountains,
With thy ever-gushing fountains;
Earth, oh, earth! once fair and holy,
Fallen, fallen, and so lowly;
Thou art not my home!
