Pebbles and Shells (Hawkes collection)/Noonday in Summer
NOONDAY IN SUMMER
The brazen sun is in the zenith sky,
Its summer heat has scorched earth's shady ways,
Her verdure withers 'neath its burning rays,
And fragile flow'rets fade, and droop, and die.
The cooling winds are e'en too faint to sigh,
And all the leaves upon the trees are still,
The busy bee goes droning o'er the hill
To gather sweetness from the blooming rye.
The brook still sings its drowsy lullaby,
And shrill the locust wakes his noonday lay,
But still the sunflower drinks the burning ray
And turns its face up fearless to the sky,
And hollyhocks and poppies look more fair
Beneath the glamour of the noonday glare.
Its summer heat has scorched earth's shady ways,
Her verdure withers 'neath its burning rays,
And fragile flow'rets fade, and droop, and die.
The cooling winds are e'en too faint to sigh,
And all the leaves upon the trees are still,
The busy bee goes droning o'er the hill
To gather sweetness from the blooming rye.
The brook still sings its drowsy lullaby,
And shrill the locust wakes his noonday lay,
But still the sunflower drinks the burning ray
And turns its face up fearless to the sky,
And hollyhocks and poppies look more fair
Beneath the glamour of the noonday glare.