At School

The bees are in the meadow

And the swallows in the sky;

The cattle in the shadow

Watch the river running by.

The wheat is hardly stirring;

The heavy ox-team lags;

The dragon-fly is whirring

Through the yellow-blossomed flag.

And down beside the river,

Where the trees lean o'er the pool,

Where the shadows reach the quiver

A boy has come to school.

His teachers are the swallow

And the river and the trees;

His lessons are the shallows

And the flowers and the bees.