Here come real stars to fill the upper skies, And here on earth come emulating flies, That though they never equal stars in size, (And they were never really stars at heart.)
—Robert FrostThe stillness of the cup and the water in it, The silence of the moon And the quiet of the day far from the roar of the sun.
—Billy CollinsIn the dog days of summer as muslin curls on its own heat And crickets cry in the black walnut tree The wind lifts up my life And sets it some distance from where it was.
—Meena AlexanderIf sky and ocean had the means To pool their very bluest genes, Their brightest babies, one assumes, Would look like bachelor-button blooms.
—D.A.W.But happiness floats. It doesn’t need you to hold it down. It doesn’t need anything. Happiness lands on the roof of the next house, singing, and disappears when it wants to.
—Naomi Shihab NyeAnd now the crickets plug in their appliances in unison, and then the fireflies flash dots and dashes in the grass, like punctuation.
—Tony HoaglandSea’s stony greenblue shatters to white In a running swell under noonsky of cloudlight Where on a foamed-over cropping of rock A band of oystercatchers faces all one way.
—Eamon GrennanThe dandelions and buttercups gild all the lawn: the drowsy bee stumbles among the clover tops, and summer sweetens all to me.
—James Russell LowellAll these sounds and sights of water Are a symphony to me — A voice that still reminds me I’m adrift without the sea.
—Conrad NeumannA boy and his dad on a fishing-trip — Builders of life’s companionship! Oh, I envy them, as I see them there Under the sky in the open air.
—Edgar GuestAnd if you voz to see my roziz As is a boon to all men’s noziz, — You’d fall upon your back and scream — O Lawk! O criky! it’s a dream!
—Edward LearThis walking on and on, This going and coming — This morning shines such lovely light on all of us We're home.
—Robert CreeleyTen o’clock: the broken moon Hangs not yet a half hour high, Yellow as a shield of brass, In the dewy air of June, Poised between the vaulted sky And the ocean’s liquid glass.
—Emma LazarusRest, comrades, rest and sleep! The thoughts of men shall be As sentinels to keep Your rest from danger free.
—Henry Wadsworth LongfellowAmong your heart-shaped leaves Orange orioles hop like music-box birds and sing Their little weak soft songs; In the crooks of your branches.
—Amy LowellThe angels, whispering to one another, Can find, among their burning terms of love, None so devotional as that of “Mother”.
—Edgar Allen PoeIf there’s a bustle in your hedgerow, don’t be alarmed now, It’s just a spring clean for the May queen.
—Led ZeppelinHark, I hear a robin calling! List, the wind is from the south! And the orchard-bloom is falling Sweet as kisses on the mouth.
—L.M. MontgomeryKeep close to Nature's heart . . . and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.
—John MuirDemocracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt