Planting the Tree
by Dr. E.P. Waterbury
Gather we here to plant the fair tree;
Gladsome the hour, joyous and free,
Greeting to thee, fairest of May!
Breathe sweet the buds on our loved Arbor Day.
Gather we now, the sapling around,
Singing our song—let it resound:
Refrain.
Happy the day! Happy the hour!
Joyous we, all of us, feel their glad power.
Shovel and spade, trowel and hoe,
Carefully dig up the quick-yielding ground;
Make we a bed, softly lay low
Each little root with the earth spread around;
Snug as a nest, the soil round them pressed,
This is the home that the rootlings love best.
Refrain.
Moisten and soften the ground, ye Spring Rains;
Swell ye the buds, and fill ye the veins,
Bless the dear tree, bountiful Sun;
Warm thou the blood in the stem till it run;
Hasten the growth, let leaves have birth,
Make it most beautiful thing of the earth.
Refrain. |