Part 3 — SUMMER INVOCATION
Reading edition
O gentle, gentle summer rain, Let not the silver lily pine, The drooping lily pine in vain To feel that dewy touch of thine,— To drink thy freshness once again, O gentle, gentle summer rain!
In heat the landscape quivering lies; The cattle pant beneath the tree; Through parching air and purple skies The earth looks up, in vain, for thee; For thee—for thee, it looks in vain O gentle, gentle summer rain.
Come thou, and brim the meadow streams, And soften all the hills with mist, O falling dew! from burning dreams By thee shall herb and flower be kissed, And Earth shall bless thee yet again, O gentle, gentle summer rain.
William Cox Bennett [1820-1895]