RUDYARD KIPLING
SUSSEX
CD gave all men all earth to love,
But since our hearts are small,
Ordained for each one spot should prove
Beloved over all ;
That, as He watched Creation's birth, 5
So we, in godlike mood,
May of our love create our earth
And see that it is good.
So o<ne shall Baltic pines content,
As one some Surrey glade. 10
Or one the palm-grove's droned lament
Before Levuka's trade.
Each to his choice, and I rejoice
The lot has fallen to me
In a fair ground—in a fair ground—> 15
Yea, Sussex by the Sea!
No tender-hearted garden crowns,
No bosomed woods adorn
Our blunt, bow-headed, whale-backed Downs,
But gnarled the writhen thorn— 20
Bare slopes where chasing shadows skim,
And, through the gaps revealed,
Belt upon belt, the wooded, dim
Blue goodness of the Weald.
Clean of officious fence o-r hedge, 25
Half-wild and wholly tame,
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