Poems (Linn)/June's Secret

by Edith Willis Linn

JUNE'S SECRET.

EARTH has a secret which trees know so well,
 They whisper and sigh;
The robin is merry to tell,
 He shouts it on high,
Hear him there, as he sings in the blossoming dell.

The mocking bird told, that garrulous bird
 That laughs as he trills
All news that he ever has heard;
 Each love song that fills
The breasts of his bird friends; he mimics each word.

Now what is the secret? the hovering bee
 Is telling the rose;
He's a true busy-body, you see,
 As every bloom knows.
And they say that a honey-tongued flatterer is he.

The butterfly bearing the secret flew
 To lilies at morn,
There to gather the fresh, early dew;
 The lilies would scorn
Any gossip; their hearts are so spotless and true.

Knowing the secret the daisies are gay,
 They gleam in the light.
While the buttercups laugh by the way:
 And caraway white
In the shade of the willow-tree dances all day.

Words cannot tell you the secret. But go,
 In June's early prime,
Lie where the blossoming grasses grow
 And hear what they chime:
They can never be still and will tell all they know.

It lies in the life of mortals to feel,
 When the secret they hear,
All the joy that sweet June can reveal:
 But the soul must have ear,
And the heart to the Love of the universe kneel.