The July sunshine beats upon the sward,

The brown-parched sward, whose scorching grass-blades thirst

For the life-giving rain!

The fuchsias droop;

The full-blown roses drop their withering leaves;

The thrush sits mute upon the apple-bough;

A drowsy silence, an unnatural calm,

Pervades the face of nature!

In the fields,

The cattle idly lie beside the hedge,