| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900. |
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| 712. Tellus |
| | | By William Reed Huntington |
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| WHY here, on this third planet from the Sun, | |
| Fret we and smite against our prison-bars? | |
| Why not in Saturn, Mercury, or Mars, | |
| Mourn we our sins, the things undone and done? | |
| Where was the soul’s bewildering course begun? | 5 |
| In what sad land among the scattered stars | |
| Wrought she the ill which now forever scars | |
| By bitter consequence each victory won? | |
| I know not, dearest friend, yet this I see, | |
| That thou for holier fellowships wast meant. | 10 |
| Through some strange blunder thou art here; and we | |
| Who on the convict ship were hither sent, | |
| By judgment just, must not be named with thee | |
| Whose tranquil presence shames our discontent. | |
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