The promise of this fair day

Give me my days by a running stream,

When sun-found dragon-fly may dream,

And chattering leaves who fling off care

At summer's kiss in the scented air.

Let me 'neath willows' shade lie free

To find therein strange company

Of light and shadow, and the whitethroat's song,

And where my joy doth peace prolong.

When twilight moves along the lanes

And field and forest slowly gains,

There comes a new and startling bliss

Whose tranquil glory I dare not miss.

Such is the promise of this fair day,

Enwrapped in nature's wide display,

Come, share with me this hallowed time

The thought of God has made sublime.

EMLYN C. JONES