I How sweet on sunny afternoons, For those who journey light and well, To loiter up a hilly rise Which hides the prospect far beyond, And fancy all the landscape lying Beautiful and still; Beneath a sky of summer blue, Whose rounded cloudlets, folded soft, Gaze on the scene which we await And picture from their peacefulness; So calmly to the earth inclining Float those loving shapes! Like airy brides, each singling out A spot to love and bless with love, Their creamy bosoms glowing warm, Till distance weds them to the hills, And with its latest gleam the river Sinks in their embrace. And silverly the river runs, And many a graceful wind he makes, By fields where feed the happy flocks, And hedge-rows hushing pleasant lanes, The charms of English home reflected In his shining eye: Ancestral oak, broad-foliaged elm, Rich meadows sunned and starred with flowers, The cottage breathing tender smoke Against the brooding golden air, With glimpses of a stately mansion On a woodland sward; And circling round, as with a ring, The distance spreading amber haze, Enclosing hills and pastures sweet; A depth of soft and mellow light Which fills the heart with sudden yearning Aimless and serene! No disenchantment follows here, For nature's inspiration moves The dream which she herself fulfils; And he whose heart, like valley warmth, Steams up with joy at scenes like this Shall never be forlorn. And O for any human soul The rapture of a wide survey -- A valley sweeping to the West, With all its wealth of loveliness, Is more than recompense for days That taught us to endure. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SANTORIN (A LEGEND OF THE AEGEAN) by JAMES ELROY FLECKER DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI: 1. EMBARKATION by JOHN GOULD FLETCHER WHEN THE KYE CAME HOME by JAMES HOGG THE FAIRIES OF THE CALDON LOW; A MIDSUMMER LEGEND by MARY HOWITT THE VAMPIRE by RUDYARD KIPLING EBB by EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY DAWN MAGIC by CHARLOTTE LOUISE BERTLESEN HINC LACHRIMAE; OR THE AUTHOR TO AURORA: 25 by WILLIAM BOSWORTH |