Explore "In the Shadow of the Beeches" by Madison Cawein on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
/ In the shadow of the beeches, / Where the fragile wildflowers bloom; / Where the pensive silence pleaches / Green a roof of cool perfume, / Have you felt an awe imperious / As when, in a church, mysterious / Windows paint with God the gloom?
/ In the shadow of the beeches, / Where the rock-ledged waters flow; / Where the sun's slant splendor bleaches / Every wave to foaming snow, / Have you felt a music solemn / As when minster arch and column / Echo organ worship low?
/ In the shadow of the beeches, / Where the light and shade are blent; / Where the forest bird beseeches, / And the breeze is brimmed with scent, -- / Is it joy or melancholy / That o'erwhelms us partly, wholly, / To our spirit's betterment?
/ In the shadow of the beeches / Lay me where no eye perceives; / Where, -- like some great arm that reaches / Gently as a love that grieves, -- / One gnarled root may clasp me kindly, / While the long years, working blindly, / Slowly change my dust to leaves.