When the glare and the glitter shall wane
In glow of the chrysolite sea, For leal hearts that now struggle in vain
Shall the crown of the victor be. And sorrow-dimmed lives shall relight
With warmth from an heavenly ray; And flowerets nipped by an early blight
Shall re-bloom through an endless day.
[THE TREE.]
WRITTEN FOR ARBOR DAY.
Thou! noblest of all nature's growth!
Where'er thy foliage falls, Thy beauty, wed to matchless worth
The willing heart enthralls.
Erst-while the Jewish exiles hung
Their harps thy boughs along And poured their wearied spirits forth
In strains of plaintive song.
So yet, 'neath shimmer of thy leaves
Roll back the waves of time, And exiled souls, in dreams return
To far, serener clime.
Before the German peasant's eyes
Thuringian forests bloom; Whilst ilex of the sunny South
Lights up Italia's gloom. The English hail their country's oak,
Through which great victories came; Since naval power, in danger's hour
Sustained old England's fame.
The ebon cross of Erin's Isle
Bedecks her loyal daughters, In every land, on every strand
Laved by the glittering waters.
Ah! sweetly 'mong the rowan-trees
Ayond the seething brine, The Scotsman hears loved melodies,
From voices o' langsyne.
A landmark thou in vale of years!
White stone in history! Loud publisher of private wrongs,
Or nation's victory.