Chapter 31
AWAKENING by Radcliffe Hall Read for LibriVox.org by Christine Layman To open both your drowsy eyes, To stretch your limbs and realize That Day is here, To watch the dancing shifting beam Of sun, awake yet half in dream, Uncertain if the fitful gleam
Be far or near, To turn with soft contented sigh And through the window watch the sky, All opal blue, To feel the air steal in the room, Made fragrant by the soft perfume Of lime trees when their scented bloom Is damp with dew, To hear the rustling voice of leaves, The chirp of birds beneath the eaves,
But now awake, The tiny hum of timid things That fly with gauzy, fragile wings, Where yet the dusk to daylight clings When mornings break, To feel the soul look forth and smile, Contented with each fruitful mile that it beholds, To hear the heartbeat loud and strong, In unison with nature's song
That echoes tremulous and long while dawn unfolds, To know yourself a thing complete, With strength of mind and limb replete, With vast desire, A creature made to dominate The lesser things of earth, of fate, On whom the universe must wait, With force and tire, And then to cry in deep delight,
God made the world and made it right, Dear heaven above, Was air completeness so complete? Was ever sweetness half so sweet? Was ever loving half so meet? Thank God for love!
