Do you remember—rather, will you e'er forget?— That gray church built, how many centuries Ago? The worn stone steps, the oaken door, The crumbling walls, the altar carved, The stories told by stained-glass windows set Deep in the walls; the ivy, thick and green, Which crept and hid the grayness quite from sight. Within, the smell of roses from the sheaf Of scarlet bloom before the altar laid, Close mingled with the mould and must of age; On wall and floor memorials to the dead, Who, unafraid, had slumbered there so long.
And then the graveyard out among the trees— No graveyard, but a garden, flower filled— Moss roses white as moth wings in the night, And lilies sorrowful but very sweet, Low-growing violets in grasses hid, And rue which spoke of some heart's bitterness. Old Time had decked the stones with lichens rare, Rubbed out with careless hand the lettering: In memory of someone's life and love Each stood, but whose we might not know.
And while we lingered in the perfumed gloom, And watched the golden sunshine smite the hills, An English blackbird straight began a song So sweet, so high, so shrill, so wondrous clear, That! listening, our eyes grew dim the while Our hearts did thrill. Whoe'er has heard the song An English blackbird carols forth in June Knows well the power it has, the wondrous charm! Strangers were we within the gates, and so He gave us welcome, clearer, warmer still, A welcome to the beauty and the bloom, The silence of the churchyard old and gray, A welcome to the grasses and the brook, The shade of feathery elm trees, and the glow Of sunlight quivering, golden on the sward, A welcome to the valley dim, and to The hills, the high, far-reaching Sussex hills.
SONG OF THE GOLDEN SEA.
Sing, ye ripening fields of wheat, Sing to the breezes passing by, Sing your jubilant song and sweet, Sing to the earth, the air, the sky!
Earth that held thee and skies that kissed Morning and noon and night for long, Sun and rain and dew and mist, All that has made you glad and strong.
The harvest fields of the far, far west Stretch out a shimmering sea of gold! Every ripple upon its breast Sings peace, and plenty, and wealth untold!
Far as the eye can reach it goes, Farther yet, 'till there seems no end, Under a sky where blue and rose With the gold and turquoise softly blend.