 | Poems Old and New by Charles D. Bell |  |
MAY.
The day is clear, the air is cool,
The streamlet runs with murmurs sweet;
The swallows skim along the pool,
The lark is singing o'er the wheat.
The streamlet runs with murmurs sweet;
The swallows skim along the pool,
The lark is singing o'er the wheat.
The spring is in its early pride,
Dressing each branch and spray with green;
And flow'rs bloom sweet on every side,
In hedge-rows and in thickets seen.
Dressing each branch and spray with green;
And flow'rs bloom sweet on every side,
In hedge-rows and in thickets seen.
Across the corn the west winds blow,
In beechen woods doves coo and pair;
The cattle in the pastures low,
The cuckoo's voice is everywhere.
In beechen woods doves coo and pair;
The cattle in the pastures low,
The cuckoo's voice is everywhere.
278
'Tis joy to breathe on such a day,
When beauty spreads before the eyes,
To catch the fragrance of the May,
To see the splendour of the skies.
When beauty spreads before the eyes,
To catch the fragrance of the May,
To see the splendour of the skies.
The spring it maketh all things new,
The fields, the trees; the very sod,
While sparkling with the morning dew,
Seems fresh as from the hand of God.
The fields, the trees; the very sod,
While sparkling with the morning dew,
Seems fresh as from the hand of God.
Let us be glad in these sweet hours,
In all God giveth us to-day:
The birds, the leaves, the op'ning flowers,
For soon must glide from us the May.
In all God giveth us to-day:
The birds, the leaves, the op'ning flowers,
For soon must glide from us the May.
I would not that a care should cast
A shadow over heart or brow,
What though the spring will soon be past?
I'd live within the happy now.
A shadow over heart or brow,
What though the spring will soon be past?
I'd live within the happy now.
The thought of Autumn with its chill,
Of Winter with its snows and frosts,
Need not our sky with shadows fill,
Our hearts with sense of pleasures lost.
Of Winter with its snows and frosts,
Need not our sky with shadows fill,
Our hearts with sense of pleasures lost.
God gives us now this world so bright,
Why think we what far morrows bring?
Does He not clothe the lily white?
Feed careless sparrow on the wing?
Why think we what far morrows bring?
Does He not clothe the lily white?
Feed careless sparrow on the wing?
279
Each fragile blossom on its stem,
Each bird that carols in the air,
Leaves God on high to think for them,
And knows not either want or care,
Each bird that carols in the air,
Leaves God on high to think for them,
And knows not either want or care,
They teach us well to trust His love,
Our hearts with happy faith to fill,
To learn from all beneath, above,
“Sufficient to the day the ill.”
Our hearts with happy faith to fill,
To learn from all beneath, above,
“Sufficient to the day the ill.”
| Poems Old and New by Charles D. Bell | |