JUNE.
SWEETEST daughter of the year,
Sunny, flower-wreathed June is here.
In her foot-prints, wet with dew,
Violets spring, with eyes of blue.
Tangled song of wren and thrush
Greet us from the lilac bush.
Like scattered pearl the clover-bloom
Encrowns the brow of smiling June;
Roses in her hand she brings;
In the hedge the robin sings.
The dandelion's curls of gold
Are mingled, in a mazy fold,
With the strawberry's crimson sheen,
And waving grasses cool and green.
O'er tiny lake, 'neath cypress tall,
Sunlight and shadows shifting fall;
Embosomed on the waters deep,
The white-souled lily falls asleep.
From mossy glade and bosky dell
Steals music like a fairy bell,
In joyous notes the feathered throng
Are thanking God for gift of song.