The writings of John Greenleaf Whittier, Volume 4.
John Greenleaf Whittier, Ed.

Once more let God's green earth and sunset air
     Old feelings waken;
Through weary years of toil and strife and ill,
     Oh, let me feel that my good angel still
Hath not his trust forsaken.

And well do time and place befit my mood:
     Beneath the arms
Of this embracing wood, a good man made
     His home, like Abraham resting in the shade
Of Mamre's lonely palms.

Here, rich with autumn gifts of countless years,
     The virgin soil
Turned from the share he guided, and in rain
     And summer sunshine throve the fruits and grain
Which blessed his honest toil.

Here, from his voyages on the stormy seas,
     Weary and worn,
He came to meet his children and to bless
     The Giver of all good in thankfulness
And praise for his return.

And here his neighbors gathered in to greet
     Their friend again,
Safe from the wave and the destroying gales,
     Which reap untimely green Bermuda's vales,
And vex the Carib main.