"The Things I Prize" by Henry van Dyke

This inspirational bit of poetry is from Part VII of "God of the Open Air" in Music and Other Poems by Henry van Dyke (copyright 1904 by Charles Scribner's Sons and 1932 by Henry van Dyke).


THE THINGS I PRIZE

These are the things I prize
   And hold of dearest worth:
Light of the sapphire skies,
Peace of the silent hills,
Shelter of the forests, comfort of the grass,
Music of birds, murmur of little rills,
Shadows of cloud that swiftly pass,
   And, after showers,
   The smell of flowers
And of the good brown earth --
And best of all, along the way, friendship and mirth.

Henry van Dyke (1852-1933)