My leaves would break the sheltering ground,
Would leap like light from out the earth
In all the glory of new birth.

I knew that thus from life to death,
From death to life, this living breath
Of bud and bloom, of leaf and flower,
Eternal sprang from hour to hour.

Yet while thus sentient in my shroud,
Above me, moving in a cloud,
These restless hearts cried in the bright
And high noonday, "God, give us light!"