We have had other lords, O God,
Who held dominion in our heart,
But Thou hast swept them all away
And in Thy place they bear no part.

The gods are dead – they shall not live,
They have gone down, and shall not rise,
For Thou hast swept their power away
And cast their glamour from our eyes.

Thy people labour in Thy sight,
Like women in the pangs of birth,
But all our labour is for naught,
We bear no glory in the earth.

But though we die, in Thee we live,
Nor can the earth hold down our trust,
Thy dew shall call us back to life,
Awake and sing who dwell in dust!

1940

Read the book: Water at the Roots: Poems and Insights of a Visionary Farmer