Witter Bynner - One of the Crowd lyrics

Oh I longed, when I went in the woods today, To see the fauns come out and play, To see a satyr try to seize A dryad's waist - and bark his knees, To see a river-nymph waylay And shock him with a dash of spray! - And I teased, like a child, by brooks and trees: "Come back again! We need you! Please! Come back and teach us how to play!" But nowhere in the woods were they. I found, when I went in the town today, A thousand people on their way To offices and factories - And never a single soul at ease; And how could I help but sigh and say: "What can it profit them, how can it pay To strain the eye with rivalries Until the dark is all it sees? - Or to manage, more than others may, To store the wasted gain away?" But one of the crowd looked up today, With pointed brows. I heard him say: "Out of the meadows and rivers and trees We fauns and many companies Of nymphs have come. And we are these, These people, each upon his way, Looking for work, working for pay - And paying all our energies To earn true love. . . For, seeming gay, "Once we were sad," I heard him say.