The Poetry Corner

Songs Of The Summer Days

By George MacDonald

I. A glory on the chamber wall! A glory in the brain! Triumphant floods of glory fall On heath, and wold, and plain. Earth lieth still in hopeless bliss; She has, and seeks no more; Forgets that days come after this, Forgets the days before. Each ripple waves a flickering fire Of gladness, as it runs; They laugh and flash, and leap and spire, And toss ten thousand suns. But hark! low, in the world within, One sad aeolian tone: "Ah! shall we ever, ever win A summer of our own?" II. A morn of winds and swaying trees-- Earth's jubilance rushing out! The birds are fighting with the breeze; The waters heave about. White clouds are swept across the sky, Their shadows o'er the graves; Purpling the green, they float and fly Athwart the sunny waves. The long grass--an earth-rooted sea-- Mimics the watery strife. To boat or horse? Wild motion we Shall find harmonious life. But whither? Roll and sweep and bend Suffice for Nature's part; But motion to an endless end Is needful for our heart. III. The morn awakes like brooding dove, With outspread wings of gray; Her feathery clouds close in above, And roof a sober day. No motion in the deeps of air! No trembling in the leaves! A still contentment everywhere, That neither laughs nor grieves! A film of sheeted silver gray Shuts in the ocean's hue; White-winged feluccas cleave their way In paths of gorgeous blue. Dream on, dream on, O dreamy day, Thy very clouds are dreams! Yon child is dreaming far away-- He is not where he seems. IV. The lark is up, his faith is strong, He mounts the morning air; Lone voice of all the creature throng, He sings the morning prayer. Slow clouds from north and south appear, Black-based, with shining slope; In sullen forms their might they rear, And climb the vaulted cope. A lightning flash, a thunder boom!-- Nor sun nor clouds are there; A single, all-pervading gloom Hangs in the heavy air. A weeping, wasting afternoon Weighs down the aspiring corn; Amber and red, the sunset soon Leads back to golden morn.