Ontario Readers Third Book, The

<h2><SPAN name="Gladness" id="Gladness"></SPAN>THE GLADNESS OF NATURE</h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <span>Is this a time to be cloudy and sad,<br/></span> <span class="i1">When our mother Nature laughs around;<br/></span> <span>When even the deep blue heavens look glad,<br/></span> <span class="i1">And gladness breathes from the blossoming ground?<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span>There are notes of joy from the hang-bird and wren,<br/></span> <span class="i1">And the gossip of swallows through all the sky;<br/></span> <span>The ground-squirrel gaily chirps by his den,<br/></span> <span class="i1">And the wilding bee hums merrily by.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span>The clouds are at play in the azure space,<br/></span> <span class="i1">And their shadows at play on the bright green vale,<br/></span> <span>And here they stretch to the frolic chase,<br/></span> <span class="i1">And there they roll on the easy gale.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span>There's a dance of leaves on that aspen bower,<br/></span> <span class="i1">There's a titter of winds in that beechen tree,<br/></span> <span>There's a smile on the fruit, and a smile on the flower,<br/></span> <span class="i1">And a laugh from the brook that runs to the sea.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span>And look at the broad-faced sun, how he smiles<br/></span> <span class="i1">On the dewy earth that smiles in his ray,<br/></span> <span>On the leaping waters and gay young isles;<br/></span> <span class="i1">Ay, look, and he'll smile thy gloom away.<br/></span></div> </div> <p class="citation"><span class="smcap">Bryant</span></p> <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />