Hail Summer! glad Summer! thou Queen of the year!
Hail fragrance and beauty encircling thy sphere!
With song of the oriole, with hum of the bee,
We welcome thy coming from far Southern sea.

Thou tintest the blossom on Winter's cold grave;
Bidd'st Commerce ride forth on the white-crested wave;
Thy sweet zephyrs float from the golden-hued west
As whisper of angels from realm of the blest.

The tiniest leaflets which brighten the ground
No less than great waters thy praises resound;
As, peeping from wayside, or climbing the bower,
They kiss the gay sunlight, or drink in the shower.

Heaven's choristers warble in gladsome reply,
As trees offer incense unto thy blue sky;
Even rough ocean, melting to low, passive strain,
Joins earth in harmonious and joyous refrain.

Ah me! for the roses of summer all strewn!
Ah me! for the lives whose brief sunshine has flown!
The clouds often darken at noontide the wave;
The willows oft weep o'er a midsummer's grave.

Oh! for that bright land where no shadows e'er fall;
Nor sickness e'er withers, nor sorrows appall;
Where summers of gladness unceasingly roll
O'er the sinless home of the sanctified soul.