Is this a time to be cloudy and sad, <br />When our mother Nature laughs around; <br />When even the deep blue heavens look glad, <br />And gladness breathes from the blossoming ground? <br /> <br />There are notes of joy from the hang-bird and wren, <br />And the gossip of swallows through all the sky; <br />The ground-squirrel gaily chirps by his den, <br />And the wilding bee hums merrily by. <br /> <br />The clouds are at play in the azure space, <br />And their shadows at play on the bright green vale, <br />And here they stretch to the frolic chase, <br />And there they roll on the easy gale. <br /> <br />There's a dance of leaves in that aspen bower, <br />There's a titter of winds in that beechen tree, <br />There's a smile on the fruit, and a smile on the flower, <br />And a laugh from the brook that runs to the sea. <br /> <br />And look at the broad-faced sun, how he smiles <br />On the dewy earth that smiles in his ray, <br />On the leaping waters and gay young isles; <br />Ay, look, and he'll smile thy gloom away.<br /><br />William Cullen Bryant<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-gladness-of-nature/
