I <br /> <br />'REST, rest, perturbed Earth! <br />O rest, thou doleful Mother of Mankind!' <br />A Spirit sang in tones more plaintive than the wind: <br />'From regions where no evil thing has birth <br />I come--thy stains to wash away, <br />Thy cherished fetters to unbind, <br />And open thy sad eyes upon a milder day. <br />The Heavens are thronged with martyrs that have risen <br />From out thy noisome prison; <br />The penal caverns groan <br />With tens of thousands rent from off the tree <br />Of hopeful life,--by battle's whirlwind blown <br />Into the deserts of Eternity. <br />Unpitied havoc! Victims unlamented! <br />But not on high, where madness is resented, <br />And murder causes some sad tears to flow, <br />Though, from the widely-sweeping blow, <br />The choirs of Angels spread, triumphantly augmented. <br /> <br />II <br /> <br />'False Parent of Mankind! <br />Obdurate, proud, and blind, <br />I sprinkle thee with soft celestial dews, <br />Thy lost, maternal heart to re-infuse! <br />Scattering this far-fetched moisture from my wings, <br />Upon the act a blessing I implore, <br />Of which the rivers in their secret springs, <br />The rivers stained so oft with human gore, <br />Are conscious;--may the like return no more! <br />May Discord--for a Seraph's care <br />Shall be attended with a bolder prayer-- <br />May she, who once disturbed the seats of bliss <br />These mortal spheres above, <br />Be chained for ever to the black abyss. <br />And thou, O rescued Earth, by peace and love, <br />And merciful desires, thy sanctity approve!' <br />The Spirit ended his mysterious rite, <br />And the pure vision closed in darkness infinite.<br /><br />William Wordsworth<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/invocation-to-the-earth-february-1816/
