Page:Poems Argent.djvu/30

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
18
POEMS.
And multitudes of humming bees
Take their most comfortable ease
  Upon the sweet wild flowers.

The long lake through the avenue
Reflects the heavens so deeply blue,
  And throws a sudden gleam
Across the lilies as they grow
And flutter idly to and fro,
Within the water's tranquil flow,
Their petals whiter than the snow,
  More fair than earthly dream!

Within the distance graze the deer,
With antlered heads, and far and near,
  The slender fawns at play.
Oh! beauteous creatures slim and fair,
That sportive sniff the free fresh air,
Unfettered in your grassy lair,
May cruel huntsmen never dare
  To harm you any way.

A boat is drifting on the lake,
A double boat it seems to make,
  Slow sailing at its will.
Oh! what a vision of delight
Must be the dawn of morning bright,—
The moonlit radiance of the night
That bursts upon the startled sight,
  O'er valley and o'er hill.