O Lord, the children of my people are Thy peculiar treasures, Make them mine, O God, even while I have them, My lovely companions, like Eve in Eden! So much my treasure that all other wealth is without them But dross and poverty. Do they not adorn and beautifie the World, And gratify my Soul which hateth Solitude! Thou, Lord, hast made thy servant a sociable creature, for which I praise thy name, A lover of company, a delighter in equals; Replenish the inclination which Thyself hath implanted, And give me eyes To see the beauty of that life and comfort Wherewith those by their actions Inspire the nations. Their Markets, Tillage, Courts of Judicature, Marriages, Feasts and Assemblies, Navys, Armies, Priests and Sabbaths, Trades and Business, the voice of the Bridegroom, Musical Instruments, the light of Candles, and the grinding of Mills Are comfortable, O Lord, let them not cease. The riches of the land are all the materials of my felicity in their hands: They are my Factors, Substitutes, and Stewards; Second Selves, who by Trade and Business animate my wealth, Which else would be dead and rust in my hands; But when I consider, O Lord, how they come unto thy Temples, fill thy Courts, and sing Thy praises, O how wonderful they then appear! What Stars, Enflaming Suns, Enlarging Seas Of Divine Affection, Confirming Paterns, Infusing Influence, Do I feel in these! Who are the shining light Of all the land (to my very Soul:) Wings and Streams Carrying me unto thee, The Sea of Goodness from whence they came. Have we not here a very remarkable anticipation of the leading thought of Whitman's "Leaves of Grass"? Do we not see in both poets the same deep love of and delight in humanity, the same feeling of comradeship and brotherhood with all men, the same hunger for sympathy and reciprocal affection, the same pleasure in the common things of life and nature, and the same frank acceptance of things as they are, and not as they might be? I have said that there is more unlikeness than likeness between the poets--but is it really so? Does not the above passage show that beneath all apparent differences there was a fundamental resemblance in their characters? To say the least, there was this resemblance--that both of them found life supremely well worth living, and never doubted, even when the clouds were blackest, that the sun was shining beyond them. THE WILL OF THOMAS TRAHERNE, AS REGISTERED IN THE PREROGATIVE COURT OF CANTERBURY