The Summer Feelin’

O I like the summer feelin’ with its hazy, lazy air,

     An’ its soft an’ drowsy whisper thru the trees;

I like its meller music which is risin’ everywhere,

     Frum the waterfalls an’ thrushes an’ the drone uv busy bees.

O I like the summer feelin’ with its drowsy mono-tone

     Uv toads an’ bugs an’ locusts, an’ the crickets’ interlude;

I like tur lie an’ listen with the branches o’er me thrown

     Where the brooklet meets the river an’ the medder meets the wood.

Yes, I like the summer feelin’ cuz it fills my hungry soul

     With a glow uv healthy happiness thet nuthin’ else kin do;

An' I look up thro’ the branches where the great white cloudlets roll,

     An’ I feel myself a-driftin’ off to world beyond the blue.

With the windin’ crick beside me an’ the restful skies above,

     An’ a tangled mess uv mosses lyin’ ‘neath me fur a bed;

An’ a splash uv summer feelin’ frum the green-clad hills I love,

     An’ a stream uv natur’s music runnin’ wildly thro’ my head.

Do yew know the summer feelin’? If yew don’t then steal away

     Where the medder meets the woodland an’ the brooklet meets the stream;

Let yewr heart beat to the music, let yewr loosened fancies play,

     An’ loaf an’ loiter by the crick an’ dream an’ dream an’ dream.

May 10, 1899

B.C. – June 18, ‘99