OF RICHARD JEFFERIES 



their hearts might be satisfied, and their 

 homes secured; by the fountain they 

 asked of the water that the highest 

 aspirations of their souls might be 

 fulfilled; of the earth they asked an 

 abundance for those whom they loved. 

 No more the hymn is heard to the sun ; 

 no more the stream murmurs in an un- 

 dertone to the chorus of human hopes ; 

 no more the earth sees its wheat and 

 its flowers taken from it to be presented 

 to it again upon the altar in token of 

 gratitude and prayer. But still the 

 larks, as then, and still the thrushes, 

 the fleeting swallows, and the doves, 

 address themselves to sun, and earth, 

 and stream, and heaven. Their songs 

 vary not, their creed does not change, 

 their prayer goes forth to the same old 

 gods. 



Have our hopes and hearts changed 

 in the centuries? No; not one whit— 

 1 The Dewy Morn.' 



23 



