A day in June

"And what is so rare as a day in June?

Then, if ever come perfect days.

Then Heaven tries earth if it be in tune,

And over it softly her warm ear lays.

Whether we look, or whether we listen,

We hear life murmur and see it glisten.

Every clod feels a surge of might,

An instinct within it that reaches and towers,

And groping blindly above it for light,

Climbs to a soul in grass and flowers."

~James Russell Lowell

OK, everyone knows I did not write this one. However, to me it is one of the most beautiful of any written words I have read. Of course, there is much literature that I have not as yet read, despite being a voracious reader.

"Thanatopsis" is also one of my favorite pieces of poetic literature. I remember both pieces from a literature class at high school, lo, these many years ago. If my version is not a perfect copy, I'm sure my readers will forgive me.

The "Day in June" is likely to not be a perfect rendering. "Thanatopsis" is likely the same. Please remember I first read those words in 1949. That I remembered any of the words after some 67 years makes me feel a little bit better about my age. The little imp in the brain likes to remind me often that I am not as young as I used to be. We won't talk about the unspoken words the body uses to remind me.

"Thanatopsis" is more of a sad poem, but exceedingly beautiful, in my eyes. I hope I can remember the words. If I do not, please remember how I love beautiful literature, either prose or poetry. What little of it I remember is, to me, one of life's most expressive pieces of either prose or poetry.

"So live, that when thy summons comes to join that innumerable caravan that moves within the silent halls of death,

Thou go not like the quarry slave at night, scourged to his dungeon,

But sustained and soothed, approach thy grave as one who wraps the drapery of his couch about him,

And lies down to pleasant dreams."

~William Cullen Bryant

Beautiful words.