All restful and soul refreshing
As dew to the drooping flower,
Inwardly invigorating,
Imparting new life and power.
And thus, removed from the turmoil
Of day, with its din and strife,
I listen in calm contentment
To the hum of insect life.
The songs I hear in the branches,
Just stirred by the wandering breeze,
A concert of matchless music,
Fill my heart with gladsome ease.
The silvery, mystic moonlight
Enfoldeth the earth and the sea,
And the summer night is throbbing
In nature’s full harmony.
O sun, and sea, and shadow!
O eve with thy dreamy light!
I revel amid thy splendor,
Enrapt in a subtle delight!
Aleene! I await thy coming,
And the clasp of thy gentle hand,
To wander in blissful dreaming
Near heaven’s own borderland!
CANADIAN HOMES.
Canadian homes! Canadian homes!
Ye dot this wide Dominion o’er,
From the Atlantic’s ebb and flow
To the far, far Pacific’s shore!
Nestling by a thousand streams,
Crowning a thousand lofty hills,
A thousand valleys own thy sway,
The patriot e’er with rapture thrills.
A hundred rivers wend their way
By fertile plains toward the sea,
Bearing rich products of the soil
In undisturbed security;
And the great chain of inland seas,
Teeming with commerce and with trade—
The land is proud of her true sons,
And the real progress they have made.
Thy mountains tower to the skies,
And free, wild winds roam o’er thy plains;
And he who seeks this great, broad land
His freedom and a good home gains.
Thy mountain sides and wide foothills
Yield up rich ores of every name;
Exhaustless is thy hidden store,
Millions of wealth the seekers gain.
The matchless fisheries on our coasts,
Our seas and rivers, lakes and streams,
Assure to all a rich reward—
They so plenteously do teem.
Our railroads span the continent,
A vast expanse from shore to shore;
From north to south, from east to west,
They stretch this grand Dominion o’er.