RURAL SCENES.

A walk in June, in early June,

Our sweet Canadian June —

When every tree is all in leaf,

And every bird in tune;

When laughing rills leap down the hills

And through the meadows play,

Inviting to their verdant banks

The old, the young, the gay.

When not a cloud is in the sky,

Nor shadow on the lake

Save what the trees that line the shore

And little islands make,—

When every nook where'er we look,

Is bright with dewy flowers,

And violets are thickly strewn

As though they fell in showers.

How sweetly on the balmy air

The children's voices ring!

And even I renew my youth

With each returning spring.

Oh, we may keep a fresh young heart

Though outward beauty fade,

If we but cherish there a love

For all that God has made.

I do not call a happy man

The man that's rich or great;

Nor him, who stands with folded hands

And says, “It is my fate!”

But he is blest who cheerfully

Endures or does his part,

And looks on earth, and sea, and sky

With an adoring heart.

He wanders by the pebbly beach.

And by the summer brook,

And thoughtfully he turns the leaves

Of Nature's blessed book.

In forest shade, on hill, in vale,

Where'er he walks abroad,

There goes an humble worshipper —

A lover of his God.

The cares that trouble other men

For him have little weight;

He values glory at its worth,

Nor cringes to the great.

His simple pleasures never fail,

Nor make his nature cold,—

And though the years may come and go,

He never can be old.

You call the picture overdrawn —

But such a man I know;

Whose presence, like the morning sun,

Dispels each cloud of woe.

And trustingly I cling to him

As only true love can,—

My comforter, protector, guide,—

My love, thou art the man!

And you are teaching me to look

On nature with your eyes;

The pleasant change within my heart

Each day I realize.

The world is brighter now to me,

A holier thing is life.

Than even on that happy day

When first you called me wife.

The trifles that perplexed me then

Now leave my spirit calm,—

An for the deeper woes of life

I have a healing balm.

I see the hand of God in all,

I know that he is just;

And where I cannot understand

I've learned to wait and trust.

Oh, I remember well the day —

‘ Twas in the month of June,

When every tree was all in leaf,

And every bird in tune,—

We walked together, arm in arm,

As we are walking now,

But I was young, and Time had left

No traces on your brow.

I listened with a strange delight

To every word you said,

And then to hide the burning tears

I turned away my head.

I dared not trifle with your love,

Though till that magic hour

I had not cared for aching hearts

If they but owned my power.

I never felt so vile before —

So humbled in mine eyes;

I wondered what you saw to love:

I thought you must despise.

For I was gay, and you were grave,

And I was vain and proud:

You loved the meadow and the grove,

And I the laughing crowd.

I told you frankly of my faults,

You would not hear me through;

You said you were an erring man,

And earthly angels few.

But would I show my better side?

And would I deign to bless?

You held my hand — what could I do?

And so I answered, “Yes.”

Do I regret it? Nay, my love,

For were I free as then

The man I chose I still would choose

Before all other men.

And I would say, For life or death,

For happiness or woe,

Where'er you dwell there I will dwell,

Where'er you go, I go.

That was a day, and that a walk

To be remembered long:

It changed the current of my life,

And made each thought a song.

There was a glory in the sky,

A glory on the trees,

And the perfumes of Paradise

Were poured on every breeze.

I scarcely seemed to walk the earth,

My spirit was so light;

‘ Twas easy then to shun the wrong,

So easy to do right.

New hopes began to bud and bloom

Like blossoms in the spring,—

My heart o'erflowed with tenderness

For every living thing.

I was no more the thoughtless girl

By idle fancy led;

Life seemed to me reality,

And yet I did not dread

To walk along its roughest path:

I should not walk alone,—

Another and a better life

Was blended with mine own.

One blessing more and then, you said

Our joy would be complete;

Your prayer was answered when I sat

At the Redeemer's feet.

And deeper, holier grew our love,—

Our union was to be

Not only for a lifetime here,

But for eternity.

Thus peacefully we passed along

Till that eventful day

When all the labor of our hands

Like chaff was swept away:

We saw our home made desolate,

Our pleasant cottage sold;

Men called us poor, but we were rich

In better things than gold.

For we had lived an honest life;

We could look up and say:

We never wronged a fellow-man,

Nor turned the poor away.

We held a treasure in our arms

Which every care beguiled;

He never sorrowed, never sinned —

For Jesus took the child.

There is a little mound of earth

Where, when the spring appears,

We watch the budding violets,

And water them with tears.

Oh, it were more than earthly love

That soothed a parent's woe

When there we laid our darling down,

Full twenty years ago!

Sometimes my heart grows sad and sick

When to the past I turn,

And for a sweet and gentle voice

To call me mother yearn.

I see the silver in my hair,

The lines upon your brow,—

And oh, I wish our boy had lived

To be our comfort now!

One moment — then the wish is o'er:

The sun begins to shine;

I lift my heart in thankfulness,

And say, “Thy will is mine.”

‘ Tis true, of poverty and pain

We both have had our share,

But do you think in all the world

There is a happier pair?

I know the harvest-time is near,—

I know the Reaper stands

Before us, and I tremble much

Lest he unlock our hands

But God will be our strength and shield,

Our refuge in that hour;

And he will join our hands again

Beyond the Reaper's power.

Now let me wipe away those tears;

Forget my gloomy talk,

And with your own improve the scene

And sanctify our walk:

So that with Nature's melody

Our hearts may be in tune,

And send up incense like the flowers

This pleasant day in June!