Happy Country

Here by the bright blue creek the good ships lie A-building, and the hammers beat and beat, And the wood-smell is pleasant in the heat; The strong ribs curve against the marsh and sky. Here the old men are mowing in the sun, And the hay-sweetness blends with the wild-rose; At the field’s edge the scarlet lily glows; The great clouds sail, and the swift shadows run, And the broad undulant meadows gloom and smile; Over the russet red-top warm winds pass, The swallow swoops and swerves, the cattle stand In the cool of shallow brooks--and all the while Peace basks asleep, she dreams of some sad land Leagues over sea, where youth is mown as grass.