"Be glad then, and re-joice in the Lord your God."--JOEL ii. 23.
'Tis au-tumn now; the corn is cut,
But o-ther gifts for us are spread,
The pur-ple plum, the ripe brown nut,
And pears and ap-ples, streaked with red,
A-mong the dark-green branch-es shine,
Or on the grass be-neath them fall;
While full green clus-ters deck the vine
That trails o'er trel-lis, roof, and wall.
In our dear land the la-den trees
Be-speak God's pro-vi-dence and love;
He sends all need-ful gifts like these
For those who trust in Him a-bove.
How good is He to make such choice
Of plea-sant fruits for us to grow!
'Tis meet, in-deed, that we re-joice
In Him who loves His chil-dren so.
[Illustration: BE GLAD THEN, AND
REJOICE IN THE LORD YOUR GOD.
JOEL II. 23]
[Illustration: THE SQUIR-REL.]