864. C. M. T. Richardson. |The Hymn of Summer.|

1 How glad the tone when summer's sun
Wreathes the gay world with flowers,
And trees bend down with golden fruit,
And birds are in the bowers!

2 The moon sends silent music down
Upon each earthly thing;
And always, since creation's dawn,
The stars together sing.

3 Shall man remain in silence, then,
While all beneath the skies
The chorus joins? no, let us sing,
And while our voices rise,

4 O, let our lives, great God, breathe forth
A constant melody;
And every action be a tone
In that sweet hymn to thee!