RURAL SCENES.

RURAL SCENES.

THE WALK IN JUNE.

A walk in June, in early June,
  Our sweet Canadian June—
When every tree is all in leaf,
  And every bird in tune;
When laughing rills leap down the hills
  And through the meadows play,
Inviting to their verdant banks
  The old, the young, the gay.

When not a cloud is in the sky,
  Nor shadow on the lake
Save what the trees that line the shore
  And little islands make,—
When every nook where'er we look,
  Is bright with dewy flowers,
And violets are thickly strewn
  As though they fell in showers.

How sweetly on the balmy air
  The children's voices ring!
And even I renew my youth
  With each returning spring.
Oh, we may keep a fresh young heart
  Though outward beauty fade,
If we but cherish there a love
  For all that God has made.

I do not call a happy man
  The man that's rich or great;
Nor him, who stands with folded hands
  And says, "It is my fate!"
But he is blest who cheerfully
  Endures or does his part,
And looks on earth, and sea, and sky
  With an adoring heart.

He wanders by the pebbly beach.
  And by the summer brook,
And thoughtfully he turns the leaves
  Of Nature's blessed book.
In forest shade, on hill, in vale,
  Where'er he walks abroad,
There goes an humble worshipper—
  A lover of his God.

The cares that trouble other men
  For him have little weight;
He values glory at its worth,
  Nor cringes to the great.
His simple pleasures never fail,
  Nor make his nature cold,—
And though the years may come and go,
  He never can be old.

You call the picture overdrawn—
  But such a man I know;
Whose presence, like the morning sun,
  Dispels each cloud of woe.
And trustingly I cling to him
  As only true love can,—
My comforter, protector, guide,—
  My love, thou art the man!

And you are teaching me to look
  On nature with your eyes;
The pleasant change within my heart
  Each day I realize.
The world is brighter now to me,
  A holier thing is life.
Than even on that happy day
  When first you called me wife.

The trifles that perplexed me then
  Now leave my spirit calm,—
An for the deeper woes of life
  I have a healing balm.
I see the hand of God in all,
  I know that he is just;
And where I cannot understand
  I've learned to wait and trust.

Oh, I remember well the day—
  'Twas in the month of June,
When every tree was all in leaf,
  And every bird in tune,—
We walked together, arm in arm,
  As we are walking now,
But I was young, and Time had left
  No traces on your brow.

I listened with a strange delight
  To every word you said,
And then to hide the burning tears
  I turned away my head.
I dared not trifle with your love,
  Though till that magic hour
I had not cared for aching hearts
  If they but owned my power.

I never felt so vile before—
  So humbled in mine eyes;
I wondered what you saw to love:
  I thought you must despise.
For I was gay, and you were grave,
  And I was vain and proud:
You loved the meadow and the grove,
  And I the laughing crowd.

I told you frankly of my faults,
  You would not hear me through;
You said you were an erring man,
  And earthly angels few.
But would I show my better side?
  And would I deign to bless?
You held my hand—what could I do?
  And so I answered, "Yes."

Do I regret it? Nay, my love,
  For were I free as then
The man I chose I still would choose
  Before all other men.
And I would say, For life or death,
  For happiness or woe,
Where'er you dwell there I will dwell,
  Where'er you go, I go.

That was a day, and that a walk
  To be remembered long:
It changed the current of my life,
  And made each thought a song.
There was a glory in the sky,
  A glory on the trees,
And the perfumes of Paradise
  Were poured on every breeze.

I scarcely seemed to walk the earth,
  My spirit was so light;
'Twas easy then to shun the wrong,
  So easy to do right.
New hopes began to bud and bloom
  Like blossoms in the spring,—
My heart o'erflowed with tenderness
  For every living thing.

I was no more the thoughtless girl
  By idle fancy led;
Life seemed to me reality,
  And yet I did not dread
To walk along its roughest path:
  I should not walk alone,—
Another and a better life
  Was blended with mine own.

One blessing more and then, you said
  Our joy would be complete;
Your prayer was answered when I sat
  At the Redeemer's feet.
And deeper, holier grew our love,—
  Our union was to be
Not only for a lifetime here,
  But for eternity.

Thus peacefully we passed along
  Till that eventful day
When all the labor of our hands
  Like chaff was swept away:
We saw our home made desolate,
  Our pleasant cottage sold;
Men called us poor, but we were rich
  In better things than gold.

For we had lived an honest life;
  We could look up and say:
We never wronged a fellow-man,
  Nor turned the poor away.
We held a treasure in our arms
  Which every care beguiled;
He never sorrowed, never sinned—
  For Jesus took the child.

There is a little mound of earth
  Where, when the spring appears,
We watch the budding violets,
  And water them with tears.
Oh, it were more than earthly love
  That soothed a parent's woe
When there we laid our darling down,
  Full twenty years ago!

Sometimes my heart grows sad and sick
  When to the past I turn,
And for a sweet and gentle voice
  To call me mother yearn.
I see the silver in my hair,
  The lines upon your brow,—
And oh, I wish our boy had lived
  To be our comfort now!

One moment—then the wish is o'er:
  The sun begins to shine;
I lift my heart in thankfulness,
  And say, "Thy will is mine."
'Tis true, of poverty and pain
  We both have had our share,
But do you think in all the world
  There is a happier pair?

I know the harvest-time is near,—
  I know the Reaper stands
Before us, and I tremble much
  Lest he unlock our hands
But God will be our strength and shield,
  Our refuge in that hour;
And he will join our hands again
  Beyond the Reaper's power.

Now let me wipe away those tears;
  Forget my gloomy talk,
And with your own improve the scene
  And sanctify our walk:
So that with Nature's melody
  Our hearts may be in tune,
And send up incense like the flowers
  This pleasant day in June!