GREAT HEART.
Reading edition
Great Heart is sitting beneath a tree: Never a horse upon earth has he; But he sings to the wind a hearty song, Leaves of the oak trees rustling along: 'Over the mountain and over the tide, Over the valley and on let us ride!' There's many a messenger riding past, And many a skipper whose ship sails fast; But none of them all, though he rides or rows, Flies as free as the heart of Great Heart goes, Free as the eagle and full as the tide: 'And over the valley and on let us ride!' Many a sorrow might Great Heart know, Thick as the oak leaves which over him grow Many a trouble might Great Heart feel, Close as the grass blades under his heel; But sorrow will never by Great Heart bide, Singing 'Over the valley and on let us ride!' 'But tell me, good fellow, where Great Heart dwells?' In the wood, by the sea, in the city's cells; Where the Honest, the Beautiful, and True Are free to him as they are to you; Where the wild birds whistle and waters glide, Singing 'Over the valley and on let us ride!' Few of his fellows doth Great Heart see; Seldom he knows where their homes may be; But the fays of the greenwood are still on earth— To many a Great Heart they'll yet give birth; And thousands of voices will sing in pride, 'All over the wide world and on let us ride!'