FOR CHILDREN. 133

THE GLADNESS OF NATURE.

Ts this a time to be cloudy and sad,
When all is smiling above and around ;
When even the deep blue heavens look glad,
And gladness breathes from the blossoming
ground ?

There are notes of joy from the blackbird and wren,
And the gossip of swallows through all the sky ;
The ground-squirtel gaily chirps by his den,
And the wilding bee hums merrily by.

The clouds are at play in the azure space,
And their shadows sport in the deep green
vale ; :
And here ‘they stretch to the frolic chase,
And there they roll] in the easy gale.

There’s a dance of leaves in that aspen bower,.
There’s a titter of winds in that beechen tree,
There’s a smile on the fruit, and a smile on the

flower,
And a laugh from the brook that runs to the
sea.

And look at the broad-faced sun, how he smiles
On the dewy earth, that smiles in his ray,
On the leaping waters and gay young isles,—
Ay, look, and he'll smile all thy gloom away.
W. C. Bryant.

N