Page:The poems of Emma Lazarus volume 1.djvu/155

Rh , shapeless drifts of cloud Sail slowly northward in the soft-hued sky, With blue half -tints and rolling summits bright, By the late sun caressed ; slight hazes shroud All things afar ; shineth each leaf anigh With its own warmth and light. O’erblown by Southland airs, The summer landscape basks in utter peace: In lazy streams the lazy clouds are seen; Low hills, broad meadows, and large, clear-cut squares Of ripening corn-fields, rippled by the breeze, With shifting shade and sheen. Hark! and you may not hear A sound less soothing than the rustle cool Of swaying leaves, the steady wiry drone Of unseen crickets, sudden chirpings clear Of happy birds, the tinkle of the pool, Chafed by a single stone. What vague, delicious dreams, Born of this golden hour of afternoon, And air balm-freighted, fill the soul with bliss, Transpierced like yonder clouds with lustrous gleams,