Summer Rain

Thick lay the dust, uncomfortably white,
In glaring mimicry of Arab sands.
The woods and mountains slept in hazy light ;
The meadows look'd athirst and tawny tann'd ;
The little rills had left their channels bare,
With scarce a pool to witness what they were ;
And the shrunk river gleam'd 'mid oozy stones,
That stared like any famish'd giant's bones.
Sudden the hills grew black, and hot as stove
The air beneath ; it was a toil to be.
There was a growling as of angry Jove,
Provoked by Juno's prying jealousy —
A flash — a crash — the firmament was split,
And down it came in drops — the smallest fit
To drown a bee in fox-glove bell conceal'd ;
Joy fill'd the brook, and comfort cheer'd the field.