Poems (Argent)/In the Avenue
IN THE AVENUE.
A LOVELY spot in summer heatFor tired brain and weary feet To wile away the hours.Where whispers linger on the breeze,Play hide and seek among the trees, And multitudes of humming beesTake their most comfortable ease Upon the sweet wild flowers.
The long lake through the avenueReflects the heavens so deeply blue, And throws a sudden gleamAcross the lilies as they growAnd flutter idly to and fro,Within the water's tranquil flow,Their petals whiter than the snow, More fair than earthly dream!
Within the distance graze the deer,With antlered heads, and far and near, The slender fawns at play.Oh! beauteous creatures slim and fair,That sportive sniff the free fresh air,Unfettered in your grassy lair,May cruel huntsmen never dare To harm you any way.
A boat is drifting on the lake,A double boat it seems to make, Slow sailing at its will.Oh! what a vision of delightMust be the dawn of morning bright,—The moonlit radiance of the nightThat bursts upon the startled sight, O'er valley and o'er hill.
And sweet the pleasant sense of restThe whole scene stamps upon the breast, Within this shadowy place.Away from all the city's din,One marvels that a thought of sinShould from the heart a conquest win,With God and Nature close shut in And speaking face to face!