Pebbles and Shells (Hawkes collection)/A Pastel in Verse
A PASTEL IN VERSE
Golden sunlight on a rye-field softlyGleaming when the summer day is waning;Bathing all the field in heavenly glory,Flooding it with mellow amber light.Far away the verdure of the hilltopsRises up to meet the summer sky,And the great white ships that sail the heavensDrift against them but they do not perishLike the ships that sail the treacherous sea.Among the nodding heads the busy beeIs searching for the sweetness of the flowers,Just as mortals look for joy and gladnessAmong the brambles in the field of life.Here a swath of golden grain is lyingTelling of the farmer's life of toiling,And the children in the distant farmhouseThat he labors here so hard to feed.There the grain in graceful stacks is standing,Telling of the store that must be gatheredE'er the winter comes with sleet and snow.And these are nature's wondrous fields and skies,Her trees, her flowers, her grain fields, and her fruit,And her richness and her wondrous beauty,All are man's and to him freely given,He the rightful lord of all creationAnd the highest, noblest work of heaven. So he who paints one page from Nature's bookWith Nature's art, has painted God and Heaven.