338. Midsummer Night’s Dream

BUT so deep the wild-bee hummeth,

And so still the glow-worm glows,

That we know a Saviour cometh,

And we lay our hearts with those—

All the mysteries earth strives with through the June nights and the rose.

Strange the joy that sets us weeping—

Holy John, thy Feast is come!

Yea, we feel a Babe is leaping

In the womb where he is dumb

To the song that God’s own Mother sings so loud to Christendom.

High that singing, high and humble!

Lo, our Queen is taking rule:

Faint midsummer thunders rumble,

And gold lilies light the pool,

While the generations whisper that a Queen is taking rule.