THE sun is careering in glory and might,
‘Mid the deep blue sky and the cloudlets white;
The bright wave is tossing its foam on high,
And the summer breezes go lightly by;
The air and the water dance, glitter, and play,
And why should not I be as merry as they?
The linnet is singing the wild wood through:
The fawn’s bounding footstep skims over the dew:
The butterfly flits round the flowering tree,
And the cowslip and blue-bell are bent by the bee;
All the creatures that dwell in the forest are gay
And why should not I be as merry as they?