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“Long Days”
Summer-time, New Zealand

Long days!—
When all is fair—
When thro' the air
Flit butterflies
'Neath sunny skies.
Long days!—
When in the air
Is bird-song
All day long.
Long days!—
When sheep repose
Beneath the sun.
Long days!—
When blooms the rose.
Long days!—
When everyone
Should happy be—
When children play
On holiday
Beside the sea.
Long days! Long days!—
Why haste away?
Can ye not stay?

—Samuel Hulme Bridgford.
(Decoration by Frederick Walter Perry.)