Working on a new song with poem (lyrics) by John Burroughs

I've enjoying writing music to some of the world's great poetry including Ode on a Grecian Urn, She was Phantom of Delight, Daffodils, La belle Dame Sans Merci, Rumors from an Aeolian Harp and others. My attempts are to create singable tunes in a style that is accessible to the trained or untrained vocalist. I hope I capture the intended emotions even at this level of interpretation.

WAITING

by: John Burroughs (1837-1921)

Serene, I fold my hands and wait,

Nor care for wind, nor tide, nor sea;

I rave no more 'gainst time or fate,

For, lo! my own shall come to me.







I stay my haste, I make delays,

For what avails this eager pace?

I stand amid the eternal ways,

And what is mine shall know my face.







Asleep, awake, by night or day,

The friends I seek are seeking me;

No wind can drive my bark astray,

Nor change the tide of destiny.







What matter if I stand alone?

I wait with joy the coming years;

My heart shall reap where it hath sown,

And garner up its fruit of tears.







The waters know their own and draw

The brook that springs in yonder height;

So flows the good with equal law

Unto the soul of pure delight.







The stars come nightly to the sky;

The tidal wave unto the sea;

Nor time, nor space, nor deep, nor high,

Can keep my own away from me.