Page:Negro poets and their poems (IA negropoetstheirp00kerl).pdf/281

Rh July Sunshine and shadow play amid the trees In bosky groves, while from the vivid sky The sun’s gold arrows fleck the fields at noon, Where weary cattle to their slumber hie. How sweet the music of the purling rill, Trickling adown the grassy hill! While dreamy fancies come to give repose When the first star of evening glows. August Haste to the mighty ocean, List to the lapsing waves; With what a strange commotion They seek their coral caves. From heat and turmoil let us oft return, The ocean’s solemn majesty to learn. September With what a gentle sound The autumn leaves drop to the ground; The many-colored dyes, They greet our watching eyes. Rosy and russet, how they fall! Throwing o’er earth a leafy pall. October The mellow moon hangs golden in the sky, The vintage song is over, far and nigh A richer beauty Nature weareth now, And silently, in reverence we bow Before the forest altars, off’ring praise To Him who sweetness gives to all our days.