This Kindly Earth

It's come at last (said old George Jones) -
   The simple rule of simple things,
Showin' that all that mankind owns
   Is what this kind old planet brings,
Thro' earth and sun and kindly rains,
To build the sum of human gains.

I ain't the man by learnin' schooled
   To speak my mind out plain an' clear;
But all of modern life ain't fooled
   The simple faith that I hold dear -
The faith that binds a man to earth
Where Adam and his breed had birth.

I sit and watch the warring world -
   From this, my little scrap of earth -
I see men by strange passions hurled
   To fratricide.  An' what's it worth?
I sow and reap and reap and sow,
And count it all a perfect show.

What are we seeking, after all,
   But fair content and food to eat?
A tyrant's rise, a tyrant's fall,
   Counts less than just one grain of wheat -
One grain of wheat that grows, perchance,
To ten for man's inheritance.

Oh, men may strive and men may fight,
   And argue till the crack of doom,
And seek to have the world put right
   By sending brothers to their doom;
And who shall profit, save the man
Who sticks to Father Adam's plan?

From earth we spring, to earth return
   (Said old George Jones).  From what she yields
Comes all that man may ever earn -
   The harvest of her fruitful fields!
Earth shaped me, and, when life be spent,
My lip shall press it, well content.