Saturday, June 1, 2013

The Sweet June Days

The sweet June days are come again,

With sun and clouds between,

And, fed alike by sun and rain,

The trees grow broad and green:

Spreads broad and green the leafy tent,

Upon whose grassy floor

Our feet, too long in cities pent,

Their freedom find once more.

The sweet June days are come again;

Once more the glad earth yields

Its golden wealth of ripening grain,

And breath of clover fields,

And deepening shade of summer woods,

And glow of summer air,

And winging thoughts, and happy moods

Of love and joy and prayer.

The sweet June days are come again,

The birds are on the wing,

God’s praises, in their loving strain,

Unconsciously they sing.

We know who giveth all our good,

And ’neath the arches dim,

And ancient pillars of the wood,

We lift our grateful hymn.

— Samuel Longfellow (1819-1892)

Homoród Valley, Transylvania (2013)