O YE HOURS!
O ye hours! ye sunny hours!
Floating lightly by,
Are ye come with birds and flowers,
Odours and blue sky?
“Yes! we come, again we come,
Through the wood-paths free:
Bringing many a wanderer home,
With the bird and bee.”
O ye hours! ye sunny hours!
Are ye wafting song?
Doth wild music stream in showers
All the groves among?
“Yes! the nightingale is there
While the starlight reigns,
Making young leaves and sweet air
Tremble with her strains.”
O ye hours! ye sunny hours!
In your silent flow,
Ye are mighty, mighty powers!
Bring ye bliss or woe?
“Ask not this—oh! seek not this!
Yield your hearts awhile
To the soft wind’s balmy kiss,
And the heavens’ bright smile.
“Throw not shades of anxious thought
O’er the glowing flowers!
We are come with sunshine fraught,
Question not the hours!”