| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900. |
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| 752. Poet of Earth |
| | | By Stephen Henry Thayer |
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| OH, be not ether-borne, poet of earth; | |
| Stretch not thy wings to such a cloudless height | |
| As ne’er to know the darkness of the night, | |
| As ne’er to feel the touch of grief or mirth | |
| That lives in human sympathy, whose birth | 5 |
| Is longed for in this world of love and blight; | |
| Thou, too, must drink of sorrow and delight, | |
| Must taste the joy of hope, and feel its dearth; | |
| God’s service lies not out of reach, and heaven | |
| Is found alone through lowly ministry; | 10 |
| Some souls there are whose dumb chords wait the breath | |
| Of other souls, divinely gifted, given | |
| To voice the deeper tones, and lead the way | |
| To immortality, through life and death! | |
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