Iii

Ah me, I dream of what they do at home This Sabbath sunrise of the early prime! The slumbering city waking to the chime Of opening church-bells, when the sun hath clomb Full half-way up the hollow of heaven’s dome; The leisured family muster, the sublime Jollity and the uplift of the time That sets the week-worn spirit free to roam; The walking to the kirk, the solemn hour With the Creator, lapsing at the close Into the sweet expansiveness that plays Round the church door, when from the too tense power Of prayer and praise the natural spirit flows Back to its level.--That was in past days.

HESEPE, 19th May