The Breezes of June / Paul Hamilton Hayne

The Breezes of June

            Oh! sweet and soft,
            Returning oft,
      As oft they pass benignly,
The warm June breezes come and go,
Through golden rounds of murmurous flow,
            At length to sigh,
            Wax faint and die,
Far down the panting primrose sky,
                Divinely!

            Though soft and low
            These breezes blow,
      Their voice is passion's wholly;
And ah! our hearts go forth to meet
The burden of their music sweet,
            Ere yet it sighs,
            Faints, falters, dies
Down the rich path of sunset skies —
                Half glad, half melancholy!

            Bend, bend thine ear!
            Oh! hark and hear
        What vows each blithe new-comer,
Each warm June breeze that comes and goes,
Is whispering to the royal rose
        And star-pale lily, trembling nigh,
        Ere yet in subtlest harmony
            Its murmurs die,
            Wax faint and die
On thy flushed bosom, passionate sky
                Of youthful summer!

~~
Paul Hamilton Hayne (1830-1886)
from Poems, 1882

[Poem is in the public domain worldwide]

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