Elevation

Above the mountains and above the clouds
Above the valleys, woods and lakes and ocean
Beyond the sun, beyond ethereal spaces
And starry spheres, beyond their utmost bounds

Swift spirit, now you make your supple way
And, like a swimmer ravished by the waves
You gaily cleave the great unfathomed deeps
With an ineffable and viril joy

Fly far from these miasmic sickly places
Arise and cleanse yourself in higher air
Drink, as of a draught divine and pure
The lucent fire that floods the sky-clear spaces

Beyond the dreary cares and vast distress
That weigh upon our dim existence here
Happy the man who with a vigorous wing
Can soar towards the shining fields of peace

Happy the man whose thoughts, like larks, take wing
Freely towards the morning skies who glides
Above this life and simply understands
The speech of flowers and of silent things
The speech of flowers and of silent things
The speech of flowers and of silent things