Will Carleton

To appreciate heaven well
'Tis good for a man to have some fifteen minutes of hell.

To appreciate heaven well
'Tis good for a man to have some fifteen minutes of hell.

Not all the labor of the earth
Is done by hardened hands.

Not all the labor of the earth
Is done by hardened hands.

Thanksgiving-day, I fear,
If one the solemn truth must touch,
Is celebrated, not so much
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Thanksgiving-day, I fear,
If one the solemn truth must touch,
Is celebrated, not so much
To thank the Lord for blessing o'er,
As for the sake of getting more!

Yellow, mellow, ripened days,
Sheltered in a golden coating;
O'er the dreamy, listless haze,
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Yellow, mellow, ripened days,
Sheltered in a golden coating;
O'er the dreamy, listless haze,
White and dainty cloudlets floating;
Winking at the blushing trees,
And the sombre, furrowed fallow;
Smiling at the airy ease,
Of the southward flying swallow
Sweet and smiling are thy ways,
Beauteous, golden Autumn days.

Underneath an apple-tree
Sat a maiden and her lover;
And the thoughts within her he
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Underneath an apple-tree
Sat a maiden and her lover;
And the thoughts within her he
Yearned, in silence, to discover.
Round them danced the sunbeams bright,
Green the grass-lawn stretched before them
While the apple blossoms white
Hung in rich profusion o'er them.