Henry David Thoreau

They who prepare my evening meal below
Carelessly hit the kettle as they go
With tongs or shovel,
And ringing round and round,…

Whate'er we leave to God,
God does,   And blesses us;
The work we choose should be our own,   God leaves alone.
If with light head erect I sing,   Though all the Muses lend their force

ON Brook,
Penichook,
Ye sweet waters of my brain,
When shall I look

Low-anchored cloud,
Newfoundland air,
Fountain head and source of rivers,
Dew-cloth, dream drapery,

Mine are the night and morning,
The pits of air, the gull of space,
The sportive sun, the gibbous moon,
The innumerable days.

My life has been the poem I would have writ,
But I could not both live and utter it.

Here lies the body of this world,
Whose soul alas to hell is hurled.
This golden youth long since was past,
Its silver manhood went as fast

Let such pure hate still underprop Our love, that we may be Each other's conscience,
And have our sympathy Mainly from thence.
We'll one another treat like gods,
And all the faith we have In virtue and in truth, bestow On either,…

Packed in my mind lie all the clothes Which outward nature wears,
And in its fashion's hourly change It all things else repairs.
In vain I look for change abroad, And can no difference find,
Till some new ray of peace uncalled…

Ползучий дым клубится на рассвете,
Как бы исследуя застывший воздух
И не спеша взлететь навстречу дню.
Полет замедли, вяло и бесцельно…

Indeed indeed,
I cannot tell,
Though I ponder on it well,
Which were easier to state,

What's the railroad to me?
I never go to
Where it ends.
It fills a few hollows

Great God,
I ask for no meaner pelf Than that I may not disappoint myself, That in my action I may soar as high As I can now discern with this clear eye. And next in value, which thy kindness lends, That I may greatly disappoint my friends,…

MY life is like a stroll upon the beach, As near the ocean’s edge as I can go;
My tardy steps its waves sometimes o’erreach, Sometimes I stay to let them overflow.
My sole employment is, and scrupulous care,
To place my gains beyond…