Page:Poems Rice.djvu/61

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AN EVENING IN JULY.
BRIGHT stream! on your soft banks to-night,
Moonbeams fall on leaf and bower,—
Glimmering stars, with holy light,
Melt in your bosom this Eden hour;
Fragrant lilies, so white and pure,
Springing from depths unseen below,—
These quiet scenes my soul allure
To realms whence all these blessings flow.

The fire-flies flitting through the air,
Like golden butterflies from heaven,—
Sky, stream, and earth new glories wear,
This beautiful midsummer even.
The quivering of the aspen-tree,
In clouds of silvery shadow drest,—
Gushing thoughts are struggling to be free,
And flit away to dream-lands of the blest.