Poems (Hoffman)/Song of the Wind

For works with similar titles, see Song of the Wind.

SONG OF THE WIND

O Wind! in all thy wingless flight, What treasure hast thou brought,And com'st thou through the solemn night With good or evil fraught?

I hear the gladness in thy song, The sadness in thy wail;As swift thou wing'st thy flight along O'er city, hill and vale.

The stately oaks before thee bow, And make obeisance low,Oh, tell me, Wind, whence comest thou And whither dost thou go?

The shadows on my chamber floor Were playing hide and seek,When through the storm's wild rush and roar The Wind's voice seemed to speak;

And in a deeper, mysterious tone Of solemn melody,Told where its viewless wings had flown, And sang this song to me:

"I crossed the ocean's broad expanse, I wrecked the ships at sea,I fanned the wavelets where they dance To music wild and free.

I echoed through the lonely caves, And played among the rocks;I flung the sea-weed from the waves, And chased the gulls in flocks.

I rose above the sandy beach And many a jagged cliff,Where, far beyond the breakers' reach, Their giant heads they lift.

I tossed the desert's burning sands O'er many an unknown tomb,I saw the helpless caravans Sink 'neath the dread simoon.

I rustled through the stately palms, On many a southern isle;I sang my sweet and mournful psalms Where tropic sunbeams smile.

I roamed through Nature's spacious park, Through scenes sublime and strange;I roared through cañons deep and dark In many a rocky range.

I kissed the flowers on sunny days, And waved the golden grain,And sang my morning hymns of praise Through many a leafy fane.

I frolicked with the pure snowflakes, I laughed among the trees;And sang above the mountain lakes My sweetest symphonies.

Millions of brooklets join with mine Their faintly murmured chants,Where through the forest's dim outline The flickering shadows dance.

And where the mighty river rolls Forever to the sea,'Neath sunlit-skies and starry scrolls, We blend our melody.

From north to south, from east to west, I wander wild and free;I have no wish to stop and rest, My home is land and sea.

Millions of years have heard my voice, And many more shall knowSorrow and gladness, gain and loss, Ere I shall cease to blow.

Not useless, aimless, is my course, For He whose righteous willRules all this boundless universe, Can bid the winds be still.

For He at whose divine command I take my wandering flight,O'er ocean waste, or desert sand, Marks out my path aright."