FALLING RAIN. 



Ere the spring cometh 



Gentle and mild, 

 While the wind bloweth 



Rudely and wild, 

 From the dull cloud line 



Dark o'er the main. 

 Sharp as an arrow, 

 Falleth the rain. 



Dreary, oh dreary, 



Is all around ; 

 Leafless the woodland. 



Sodden the ground. 

 Streams hasten onward, 



Sweeping along. 

 Murmuring hoarsely 



Winter's dull song. 



When the spring cometh. 



Pleasant and fair, 

 When the clouds silver gray 



Float in the air. 

 While the blade springeth 



Upward again. 

 Midst golden sunbeams, 



Falleth the rain. 



Like tears in childhood 



Soon wiped away. 

 Brief thoughts of sorrow 



Soon lost in play ; 

 So, in the spring-time, 



In the green lane. 

 While hedges blossom, 



Falleth the rain. 



While the long summer 



Parches the ground, 

 While droop the flowers 



Sadly around ; 

 O, then, how pleasantly 



Once more again 

 From the dimmed heaven 



Falleth the rain. 



When golden Autumn-days 



Once more have fled, 

 When all their treasures are 



Dying or dead. 

 When all earth's glories 



Day by day wane, 

 O, then, how gloorrfily 



Falleth the rain. 



Like tears in bitterness 



Shed by the old. 

 When life's light fadeth 



And joys grow cold, 

 When they no longer 



Here may remain, 

 Mournfully, mournfully, 



Falleth the rain. 



Belle A. Hitchcock. 



56 



