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Voice on the Wind, and Other Poems

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<h2>JULY</h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> Now 'tis the time when, tall, The long blue torches of the bellflower gleam Among the trees; and, by the wooded stream. In many a fragrant ball. Blooms of the button-bush fall. </div> <div class="stanza"> Let us go forth and seek Woods where the wild plums redden and the beech Plumps its packed burs: and, swelling, just in reach. The pawpaw, emerald sleek. Ripens along the creek. </div> <div class="stanza"> Now 'tis the time when ways Of glimmering green flaunt white the misty plumes Of the black-cohosh; and through bramble glooms, A blur of orange rays, The butterfly-blossoms blaze. </div> <div class="stanza"> Let us go forth and hear The spiral music that the locusts beat, And that small spray of sound, so grassy sweet, Dear to a country ear, The cricket's summer cheer. </div> <div class="stanza"> Now golden celandine Is hairy hung with silvery sacks of seeds. And bugled o'er with freckled gold, like beads. Beneath the fox-grape vine, The jewel-weed's blossoms shine. </div> <div class="stanza"> [Pg 35] Let us go forth and see The dragon- and the butterfly, like gems, Spangling the sunbeams; and the clover stems, Weighed down by many a bee, Nodding mellifluously. </div> <div class="stanza"> Now morns are full of song; The catbird and the redbird and the jay Upon the hilltops rouse the rosy day, Who, dewy, blithe, and strong, Lures their wild wings along. </div> <div class="stanza"> Now noons are full of dreams; The clouds of heaven and the wandering breeze Follow a vision; and the flowers and trees, The hills and fields and streams, Are lapped in mystic gleams. </div> <div class="stanza"> The nights are full of love; The stars and moon take up the golden tale Of the sunk sun, and passionate and pale, Mixing their fires above, Grow eloquent thereof. </div> <div class="stanza"> Such days are like a sigh That beauty heaves from a full heart of bliss: Such nights are like the sweetness of a kiss On lips that half deny, The warm lips of July. </div> </div> <hr style="width: 65%;" /> [Pg 36] <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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