OUT in the open, I long to be free, <br />Where the song that I hear is the song of the sea, <br />And the voice that I list to is soothing and sweet, <br />Away from the sound of the tramping of feet, <br />Not urging me ceaselessly into the fray, <br />Not spurring me ever to work when I 'd play; <br />Not picturing fame with its wealth and its power, <br />And the glory to be in my conquering hour, <br />But a voice that is tender and soothing and low, <br />That bids me to rest and to live as I go. <br /> <br />Out in the open, I long to be free, <br />To lazily dream in the shade of a tree, <br />To gaze into space where are pictures that soothe <br />Of life as a river, unruffled and smooth; <br />Not men at the forges, not men at the plows, <br />Not men winning wealth by the sweat of their brows, <br />Not men sore of muscle and weary of brain, <br />Unwilling to pause lest another should gain <br />The heights they are seeking, but men who can rest <br />And know that in living the dreaming is best. <br /> <br />Out in the open, I long to be free, <br />Away from the haunts of the glories to be, <br />To tune my poor soul to the song of a star, <br />And live for a while in the glories that are; <br />To rest when I 'm weary and drop from the strife, <br />Content with the blessings God gives us with life, <br />Not bound to the forge or the plow by a chain <br />That keeps men at work for the glory of gain, <br />No slave to the future, too frightened to rest, <br />But living the present and finding it blest.<br /><br />Edgar Albert Guest<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/out-in-the-open-3/
