Contents -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

The Oxford Book of Canadian Verse

Day

William McLennan (1856–1904)

THE DAY hath burst exuberant from out the pearl-grey Dawn.

She flings aside her crimson robe behind the golden hills,

And comes in all her nakedness, her very veil withdrawn,

In glory so effulgent that it troubles as it thrills.

The cicada is screaming high her paean to the heat,

The tender morning flowers have hid their faces from the glare,

As dancing through the swooning land Day reels with burning feet,

The red hibiscus flaunting in her iridescent hair.