As God claps hands of time and space
The leaves in millions fall in place
The land becomes by flowers refined
A shade around the flame of mind
And lovers figure in the park
And gravestones settle in the dark
But kingdom go or kingdom come
Rejoicing where we are from
The sun burns free of might and main
In that far realm beyond the rain
But like a hand in agony bound
The root unclenches in the ground
And millions catch the sun’s great eye
And millions hold with roots to die
But kingdom womb or kingdom tomb
Rejoicing is where we are from
The midnight long the sharp stars put
Their blistered lips against our thought
The loving profile of that sleep
Talks with a voice a lifetime deep
And yet the morning on our eyes
Lays the twin flower of the skies
As from a festival we come
Rejoicing is where we are from
Though paradoxes live in words
And facts stampede in frightened herds
A glory beats its feathery shades
Like wings behind our shoulder blades
And lifts us swiftly on the earth
As if still on our way from birth
O now until millennium
Rejoicing is where we are from
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