University of Virginia Library


66

OUR MEADOW.

Like the blast from a furnace so fiercely came down
The beams of midsummer on the dry dusty town:
And the common lay stretching all withered and brown.
I looked to the west, thro' the pitiless glare.
Not a cloud in the heavens, but greenly and fair,
A beautiful mirage, our meadow rose there!
I saw the trees waving their branches on high,
And over them bending the soft summer sky,
While the meadow sloped down where the waters swept by
All sparkling and joyous, I saw the waves go,
Where the cattle were bathing 'neath maples below;
There the waters were deepest and stillest their flow.
And over the meadow, the gay robins flew,
While bees from the clover their stores of sweets drew;
And the butterflies culled from each flower that grew.
O, beautiful meadow! what pleasures untold
Thou hast given to me in the spring times of old;
When thy greenness was starred by the dandelion's gold!

67

Now the eyes of the stranger, look coldly on thee,
And the home of my fathers, my home may not be;
Yet a vision of beauty thou still art for me
I care not who claims thee, while thy waters shall shine,
While freshness and greenness and beauty are thine,
I hold thee, loved meadow, forever as mine!