To-day is the day of rest, the Sabbath,
A morning of sunshine, and of bees,
And of birds in the garden trees,
To-day is the day of rest, the Sabbath;
The children are in their white dresses,
Towns are gleaming through the azure haze,
This is Flanders with poplar-shaded ways,
And the sea the yellow dunes caresses.
To-day is the day of all the angels:
Michael with his swallows twittering,
Gabriel with his wings all glittering,
To-day is the day of all the angels;
Then, people here with happy faces,
All the people of my country, who
Departed one by one, two by two,
To look at life in blue distant places;
To-day is the day of rest, the Sabbath--
The miller is sleeping in the mill--
To-day is the day of rest, the Sabbath,
And my song shall now be still.