A Summer Afternoon

A Summer Afternoon 

A languid atmosphere, a lazy breeze, 
With labored respiration, moves the wheat 
From distant reaches, till the golden seas 
Break in crisp whispers at my feet. 

My book, neglected of an idle mind, 
Hides for a moment from the eyes of men; 
Or lightly opened by a critic wind, 
Affrightedly reviews itself again. 

Off through the haze that dances in the shine 
The warm sun showers in the open glade, 
The forest lies, a silhouette design 
Dimmed through and through with shade. 

A dreamy day; and tranquilly I lie 
At anchor from all storms of mental strain; 
With absent vision, gazing at the sky, 
"Like one that hears it rain." 

The Katydid, so boisterous last night, 
Clinging, inverted, in uneasy poise, 
Beneath a wheat-blade, has forgotten quite 
If "Katy DID or DIDN'T" make a noise. 

The twitter, sometimes, of a wayward bird 
That checks the song abruptly at the sound, 
And mildly, chiding echoes that have stirred, 
Sink into silence, all the more profound. 

And drowsily I hear the plaintive strain 
Of some poor dove . . . Why, I can scarcely keep 
My heavy eyelids--there it is again-- 
"Coo-coo!"--I mustn't--"Coo-coo!"--fall asleep! 

James Whitcomb Riley