The tiniest leaflets which brighten the ground
No less than great waters thy praises resound;
As, peeping from wayside, or climbing the bower,
They kiss the gay sunlight, or drink in the shower.
Heaven's choristers warble in gladsome reply,
As trees offer incense unto thy blue sky;
Even rough ocean, melting to low, passive strain,
Joins earth in harmonious and joyous refrain.
Ah me! for the roses of summer all strewn!
Ah me! for the lives whose brief sunshine has flown!
The clouds often darken at noontide the wave;
The willows oft weep o'er a midsummer's grave.
Oh! for that bright land where no shadows e'er fall;
Nor sickness e'er withers, nor sorrows appall;
Where summers of gladness unceasingly roll
O'er the sinless home of the sanctified soul.
AUTUMN.
Robed in thy raiment of splendor,
Thy trappings of purple and gold; Brighter than vision of dreamland,
Thou lightenest mountain and wold. Streameth thy rays o'er the woodland;
And the green of the sombre pine, And the crimson of the maple leaf
Are wreathed in a lustre divine.
Clothed is fair earth of thy fulness;
Enriched is the bloom of the flower; From verdant to radiant beauty
Thou shadest the gay trellised bower. Thy smile doth paint the yellow corn;
Thou sing'st in rustle of the sheaves; Thy symphonies of praise ascend
In twitter of the orchard leaves.
Calm, mellow skies look kindly down
On tree-clad hill, on fruitful vale; Whilst mariners, on far-off seas,
Hoist canvas to the homeward gale. Thy generous hand doth fill the cup
With choice reward for labor's crown; Thy teeming fields revoice that hope
Which blancheth not 'neath Winter's frown.