Page:Poems Greenwell.djvu/315

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REJOICE EVERMORE.
303
Where glowing Pink and queen-like Rose in burning colours vie,
And the pale-blossomed Lilac breathes a summer on its sigh.

Within the palaces of wealth the song and dance are found,
The Viol and the Harp are there, the Lute with silver sound;
But Summer sends upon the air a yet more pleasant tune,
The slow, sweet murmurs of the bee, the melodies of June;

Dim forest-rustlings light and low, the waters lulling fall,
The songs of birds, the Ring-dove's plaint, more sad, more sweet than all;
In one deep hymn the mighty winds, the chiming billows blend,
And in a ceaseless harmony unto their Lord ascend.

Yet there are sweeter sounds than these!—the music of the heart
That breathes through greetings and farewells when kindred meet and part;
Kind voices loved in olden days, that bear upon their tone
A message from the happy Past and all that it hath known.