A GLIMPSE OF NATURE

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Nov 29, 1877

A GLIMPSE OF NATURE.

The purple hills, the mountains blue, Rise grandly in the summer skies; From the cool woods refreshed with dew, Dark mossy woods of deep green hue, How calmly, quietly they rise, As if a soul that in them dwelt And to its God an impulse felt, Swelled high within their mighty breasts, And heaved them upward to the skies.

The great white clouds loom o'er the hills; While trailing down the mountain's side, Their fleecy fragments peaceful rest, Like quiet joy in rugged breast, And all the scene is glorified. All sounds are sweet; the trickling rills, And dashing streams, the birds and bees, The blustering breezes from the hills, That, rustling, roar like distant seas.

Breathing the pure and fragrant air, My youth returns, and life is joy; The free, fresh breeze that stirs my hair, Smooths from my brow the lines of care, And Mother Nature claims her boy. O Nature! Mother! for thy face, I longing sigh, forbid to roam, Yet, in my longings, something trace, Prophetic of a future home.

So shall the glorious mountains rise When Heaven's own landscapes glad our eyes, And grander forests there shall grow, Where purer waters rippling go, With sweeter music in their flow. We who for Nature vainly pined In cities, breathing prisoned air, The key to unlock the mystery find, And victory crowns life's struggle there.

—Christian Weekly.