A scalding tear rolled down my cheek,
Through thickening sobs I strove to speak;
“Are those the hills I saw to-night
Mantled in pomp of purple light?”
XVI
All day the earth on every side
Lay robed in vesture of a bride,
While lit on snow-wreathed bush and tree
The winter birds sang joyfully.
XVII
The river sparkled cold and keen
With burnished tracts of wintry gleam;
Above, the sky’s unclouded blue
The smile of God on all things threw.
XVIII
O’er hill and field elate I walked,
With all things fair by turns I talked;
I felt the God within me move
And nothing seemed too mean for Love.
XIX
The flower of day that bloomed so fair
Closed on the perfumed evening air;
A holy calm o’er Nature stole
And bathed in prayer my happy soul.