An Idle Day

This day will I cast off the coil
Of aging worry and of toil,
And seek the soothing soul-caress
Of Idleness.

For sometimes it is well to be
Both body-free and spirit-free,
To own no gyve, no cincturing wall,
No thrall at all.

The harper wind strides o'er the hill;
His truant will I make my will;
Two jovial comrades, forth we hie
Beneath the sky.

We loiter; who shall cry us "nay?"
We hasten; who shall bid us stay?
By stream or woodland-side we brood,
As suits our mood.

And ah, the golden grain I reap
From this one long, from this one deep
Day-dwelling, in the dream-duress
Of Idleness!

I slough the husk of discontent,
And feel no longer hedged and pent;
I look on all that round me lies
With saner eyes.

I gather from the bounteous earth
A quiet joy, an inner mirth;
And life, where'er I pass along,
Seems set to song.