The World-W. B. Rands

THE WORLD

Great, wide, beautiful, wonderful World,

With the wonderful water round you curled,

And the wonderful grass upon your breast-

World, you are beautifully drest.

The wonderful air is over me,

And the wonderful wind is shaking the tree,

It walks on the water and whirls the mills,

And talks to itself on the tops of the hills.

You friendly Earth, how far do you go,

With the wheat-fields that nod and the rivers that

flow,

With cities and gardens, and cliffs, and isles,

And people upon you for thousands of miles?

Ah! you are so great and I am so small,

I tremble to think of you, World, at all;

And yet, when I said my prayers to-day,

A whisper inside me seemed to say,

'You are more than the Earth, though you are

such a dot:

You can love and think, and the Earth can not;

W. B. RANDS

Summary: 'The World' by W. B. Rands is a poem that marvels at the beauty and vastness of the natural world. The speaker is in awe of the water, grass, air, and wind that surround them, as well as the Earth itself with its wheat fields, rivers, cities, gardens, cliffs, and isles. Despite feeling small in comparison to the enormity of the world, the speaker is comforted by the realization that as a human being, they have the ability to love and think, which sets them apart from the Earth itself. The poem celebrates the wonders of the natural world and the unique capabilities of humanity.