Beneath a friendly, towering pine we lay--
Its sun-smit needles dancing in their bright,
Gem-glittering sheen--and breathed the deep delight
That streamed ecstatic through the veins of day.
Below, the awesome canyon's vast array
Swam silent in its sea of azure light,
While far beyond, within our wondering sight,
The desert stretched illimitably gray.
Above us screamed a rapture-hearted jay;
And while the breeze swept music to our ears,
Whose murmurs deepened all the joys of rest,
Dream's noiseless pinions wafted us away,
Beyond the toils and tumults of the years,
To purple-glowing Islands of the Blest.