Old Year Leaves Being Old Verses Revised: By H. T. Mackenzie Bell ... New Edition |
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A SUMMER EVENING IN THE WOODS. |
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 | Old Year Leaves |  |
213
A SUMMER EVENING IN THE WOODS.
How beautiful the forest looks to-night,
The trees just moving in the still calm air;
And very many of the birds delight
In warbling forth their notes without a care.
The graceful boughs which erst were gaunt and bare
Have donned their fairest dress; the insects keep
A dreamy, murmuring revel everywhere;
But in the woodland glades, so dark and deep,
Save but for these few sounds, all nature seems to sleep.
The trees just moving in the still calm air;
And very many of the birds delight
In warbling forth their notes without a care.
The graceful boughs which erst were gaunt and bare
Have donned their fairest dress; the insects keep
A dreamy, murmuring revel everywhere;
But in the woodland glades, so dark and deep,
Save but for these few sounds, all nature seems to sleep.
214
The stars come slowly out, and very soon
The summer day in peace and calmness ends;
And by-and-by, as rises slow the moon,
Her light with splendour on the scene descends:
While she amid the clouds her pathway wends
Majestic as a queen, and they stand near
Like courtiers round her throne; each object lends
Fresh beauty to the landscape dim, yet clear
Enough to let its wondrous loveliness appear.
The summer day in peace and calmness ends;
And by-and-by, as rises slow the moon,
Her light with splendour on the scene descends:
While she amid the clouds her pathway wends
Majestic as a queen, and they stand near
Like courtiers round her throne; each object lends
Fresh beauty to the landscape dim, yet clear
Enough to let its wondrous loveliness appear.
Scenes like to this exert a mighty power
To soothe us, and to cause our minds to stray—
If only for a brief and transient hour—
From weary cares which fill them day by day;
And soon our thoughts fly swiftly far away
To some bright reminiscence of the past,
And for a while engrossed with it they stay;
And when our reverie is done at last,
How deeply we regret such moments fly so fast!
To soothe us, and to cause our minds to stray—
If only for a brief and transient hour—
From weary cares which fill them day by day;
And soon our thoughts fly swiftly far away
To some bright reminiscence of the past,
And for a while engrossed with it they stay;
And when our reverie is done at last,
How deeply we regret such moments fly so fast!
| Old Year Leaves | |