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June

I GAZED upon the glorious sky 
And the green mountains round  
And thought that when I came to lie 
At rest within the ground  
'T were pleasant that in flowery June 5 
When brooks send up a cheerful tune  
And groves a joyous sound  
The sexton's hand my grave to make  
The rich green mountain-turf should break.
 

A cell within the frozen mould 10 
A coffin borne through sleet  
And icy clods above it rolled  
While fierce the tempests beat¡ª 
Away!¡ªI will not think of these¡ª 
Blue be the sky and soft the breeze 15 
Earth green beneath the feet  
And be the damp mould gently pressed 
Into my narrow place of rest.
 

There through the long long summer hours 
The golden light should lie 20 
And thick young herbs and groups of flowers 
Stand in their beauty by.
 
The oriole should build and tell 
His love-tale close beside my cell; 
The idle butterfly 25 
Should rest him there and there be heard 
The housewife bee and humming-bird.
 

And what if cheerful shouts at noon 
Come from the village sent  
Or song of maids beneath the moon 30 
With fairy laughter blent? 
And what if in the evening light  
Betroth¨¨d lovers walk in sight 
Of my low monument? 
I would the lovely scene around 35 
Might know no sadder sight nor sound.
 

I know that I no more should see 
The season's glorious show  
Nor would its brightness shine for me  
Nor its wild music flow; 40 
But if around my place of sleep  
The friends I love should come to weep  
They might not haste to go.
 
Soft airs and song and light and bloom 
Should keep them lingering by my tomb.
 45 

These to their softened hearts should bear 
The thought of what has been  
And speak of one who cannot share 
The gladness of the scene; 
Whose part in all the pomp that fills 50 
The circuit of the summer hills  
Is that his grave is green; 
And deeply would their hearts rejoice 
To hear again his living voice.