LOUIS MENAND. 



1807 AUGUST 2 1877. 



I. 

 The golden light of August beamed 



O'er fair Burgundian hills, 

 The farewell glow of summer streamed 



O'er meadow, woods and rills. 

 The fruit blushed warm beneath her touch, 



Grapes felt the mellow glow, 

 Kind nature gave with lavish hand, 



'Twas seventy years ago. 



II. 

 There, just as sombre night withdrew 



Before the golden morn, 

 As the first sun beams drank the dew 



A little child was born. 

 Fair nature bent above his bed 



A loving sponsor, kind, 

 To claim the infant for her own, 



To guide the dawning mind. 



III. 

 She gently led him by the hand 



Thro' valley, field and wood, 

 Told how the secrets of the flowers 



Are known and understood. 

 From when the violets of the spring 



Bloom in the year's young day, 

 Till the pale Christmas roses beg 



The shortening days to stay. 



IV. 

 She opened wide her secret books, 



And in his boyhood's hours, 

 He, eager scholar, learned by heart 



The lessons of the flowers. 



