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Lowell, James Russell - For mankind are one in spirit, and an instinct bears along
Identifier
004497
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
A description of the experience
The Poems of James Russell Lowell
For mankind are one in spirit, and an instinct bears along
Round the earth’s electric circle, the swift flush of right or wrong
Whether conscious or unconscious, yet Humanity’s vast frame
Through its ocean sundered fibres feels the gush of joy or shame
In the gain or loss of one race all the rest have equal claim
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O Land of quiet, to thy shore the surf
Of the perturbed present rolls and sleeps
Our storms breathe soft as June upon thy turf
And lure out blossoms; to thy bosom leaps
As to a mother’s, the o’erwearied heart
Hearing far off and dim the toiling mart
The hurrying feet, the curses without number
And circled with the glow Elysian
Of thine exulting vision
Out of its very cares woos charms for peace and slumber