Classic Poem

The languorous air and the hazy light
Are spread o'er the face of field and height.

A sultry noon sends a fleece afloat
On a sea of blue, like an airy boat.

The cattle stand in the sluggard stream;
The maples sleep and the rushes dream.

The wagon creaks with its weight of gold
Till the bulging barn its wealth shall hold.

The quiet hours of the evening bring
To the ear the chirr of the cricket's wing,

And faith still holds in the heart's own bower
The joy of youth's fragrant passion-flower,

And I know by the lovely far away
Soft summer glow, 'tis an August day.