Gray and silent is the morning—
Shadows like some airy lawn
Veil the prairies from our vision;
Night is breaking into dawn.
Look! Along the eastern heavens
Yonder cloud a beacon glows,
Touching all with mellow brightness;
Gray is turning into rose.
Sombre shadows swiftly vanish—
Gorgeous are the fiery dyes
That adorn the far horizons,
Flooding earth, and air and skies.
See! The sun is slowly rising
O’er the level fields of grain,
Restless, golden billows surging
On a vast and boundless main.—
Hark! A distant sound is breaking
Through the stillness deep and calm—
O’er the prairies floats the cadence
Of sweet Nature’s morning psalm.