Voice on the Wind, and Other Poems

<h2><SPAN name="THE_WIND_OF_SUMMER" id="THE_WIND_OF_SUMMER"></SPAN>THE WIND OF SUMMER</h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">From the hills and far away<br/></span> <span class="i0">All the long, warm summer day<br/></span> <span class="i0">Comes the wind and seems to say:<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">"Come, oh, come! and let us go<br/></span> <span class="i0">Where the meadows bend and blow,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Waving with the white-tops' snow.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">"'Neath the hyssop-colored sky<br/></span> <span class="i0">'Mid the meadows we will lie<br/></span> <span class="i0">Watching the white clouds roll by;<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">"While your hair my hands shall press<br/></span> <span class="i0">With a cooling tenderness<br/></span> <span class="i0">Till your grief grows less and less.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">"Come, oh, come! and let us roam<br/></span> <span class="i0">Where the rock-cut waters comb<br/></span> <span class="i0">Flowing crystal into foam.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">"Under trees whose trunks are brown,<br/></span> <span class="i0">On the banks that violets crown,<br/></span> <span class="i0">We will watch the fish flash down;<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">"While your ear my voice shall soothe<br/></span> <span class="i0">With a whisper soft and smooth<br/></span> <span class="i0">Till your care shall wax uncouth.<br/></span> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</SPAN></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">"Come! where forests, line on line,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Armies of the oak and pine,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Scale the hills and shout and shine.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">"We will wander, hand in hand,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Ways where tall the toadstools stand,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Mile-stones white of Fairyland.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">"While your eyes my lips shall kiss,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Dewy as a wild rose is,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Till they gaze on naught but bliss.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">"On the meadows you will hear,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Leaning low your spirit ear,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Cautious footsteps drawing near.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">"You will deem it but a bee,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Murmuring soft and sleepily,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Till your inner sight shall see<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">"'Tis a presence passing slow,<br/></span> <span class="i0">All its shining hair ablow,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Through the white-tops' tossing snow.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">"By the waters, if you will,<br/></span> <span class="i0">And your inmost soul be still,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Melody your ears shall fill.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">"You will deem it but the stream<br/></span> <span class="i0">Rippling onward in a dream,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Till upon your gaze shall gleam<br/></span> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</SPAN></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">"Arm of spray and throat of foam&mdash;<br/></span> <span class="i0">'Tis a spirit there aroam<br/></span> <span class="i0">Where the radiant waters comb.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">"In the forest, if you heed,<br/></span> <span class="i0">You shall hear a magic reed<br/></span> <span class="i0">Sow sweet notes like silver seed.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">"You will deem your ears have heard<br/></span> <span class="i0">Stir of tree or song of bird,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Till your startled eyes are blurred<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">"By a vision, instant seen,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Naked gold and beryl green,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Glimmering bright the boughs between.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">"Follow me! and you shall see<br/></span> <span class="i0">Wonder-worlds of mystery<br/></span> <span class="i0">That are only known to me!"<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">Thus outside my city door<br/></span> <span class="i0">Speaks the Wind its wildwood lore,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Speaks and lo! I go once more.<br/></span></div> </div> <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</SPAN></span> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />