Summer's Essence

A tide of song and leaf, of bloom and feather —
A sea of summer's freshest, fullest splendor,
Has come with June's serenely crystal weather.
Whate'er of beauty, mornings clear and tender,
And golden eves and dewy nights, engender,
Has met in one bewildering bliss together —
Delicious fragrance, foliage deep and massy,
Unfolding roses, silver locust flowers,
And darkling silences of waters glassy,
Soft crescents, loving stars and nightly showers,
Rich shades and lemon lights in vistas grassy,
And sweetest twitterings through all the hours,
And opal clouds that float in slumber bland,
And distances that soften into fairy-land.