 | Sonnets and Other Poems Chiefly Religious |  |
56
SUMMER.
How glorious are the summer days
When heaven is clear and air is calm!
Earth basks beneath the noontide blaze,
And every breath is balm.
When heaven is clear and air is calm!
Earth basks beneath the noontide blaze,
And every breath is balm.
And how delightful, underneath
Some tree's dense foliage to repose,
And feel the summer's fragrant breath
As through the boughs it blows;
Some tree's dense foliage to repose,
And feel the summer's fragrant breath
As through the boughs it blows;
Or from the glare too hot and bright
To hide beneath some bowered arcade,
And bathe the eyes in soft green light
Mingled with mellow shade;
To hide beneath some bowered arcade,
And bathe the eyes in soft green light
Mingled with mellow shade;
To watch the play of light and dark
Among the clustered leaves on high,
And sometimes, through the foliage, mark
The azure of the sky!
Among the clustered leaves on high,
And sometimes, through the foliage, mark
The azure of the sky!
And when the sultry atmosphere
Cools at the welcome dawn of even,
And dark blue hills are pictured clear
Against a sunset heaven,
Cools at the welcome dawn of even,
And dark blue hills are pictured clear
Against a sunset heaven,
57
How sweet to watch while stars have birth,
With twilight calm our souls to fill,
And feel the evening shades o'er earth
Grow yet more dim and still;
With twilight calm our souls to fill,
And feel the evening shades o'er earth
Grow yet more dim and still;
While all is vague as in a dream;
And roses pale and lilies white
Against the foliage faintly gleam,
Like phosphorescent light.
And roses pale and lilies white
Against the foliage faintly gleam,
Like phosphorescent light.
Oh, glorious are the evenings fair
That end the sultry summer days;
'Tis pleasant but to breathe the air,
And joyful but to gaze.
That end the sultry summer days;
'Tis pleasant but to breathe the air,
And joyful but to gaze.
| Sonnets and Other Poems Chiefly Religious | |