The sun is warm upon the ridges now;
The way was rough and steep;
I’ll seek the shelter of a leafy bough
And watch my grazing sheep.
The smoke is rising from the valley there,
The hum of wheels and trade;
The stress of life is in the whirling air
While I pipe in the shade.
Where work is fierce amid the striving throng
And music’s voice is mute,
Some one may catch the echo of a song—
The faint note of a lute.