And still she walks in golden hours Through harvest-happy farms, And still she wears her fruits and flowers Like jewels on her arms.
What mean the gladness of the plain, This joy of eve and morn, The mirth that shakes the beard of grain And yellow locks of corn?
Ah! eyes may well be full of tears, And hearts with hate are hot; But even-paced come round the years, And Nature changes not.
She meets with smiles our bitter grief, With songs our groans of pain; She mocks with tint of flower and leaf The war-field's crimson stain.
Still, in the cannon's pause, we hear Her sweet thanksgiving-psalm; Too near to God for doubt or fear, She shares the eternal calm.
She knows the seed lies safe below The fires that blast and burn; For all the tears of blood we sow She waits the rich return.
She sees with clearer eye than ours The good of suffering born, — The hearts that blossom like her flowers, And ripen like her corn.