I Laid Me Down and Pondered

 Midnight in June
by John Franklin Blair 

I rose from my bed at midnight,
 On a calm, still night in June;
 I saw, shining in through the window,
 The lovely rays of the moon. 

 Then I leaned out of the window
 And beheld the glories of night,
 The trees, with their spreading branches,
 Reflecting the bright moonlight. 

 I noted the gloomy shadows
 Beneath the large maple trees,
 And heard a soft low murmur,
 Caused by the gentle breeze. 

 I gazed for a moment, enchanted,
 Viewing the beautiful scene,
 So quiet, so still, I murmured,
 How blissful, how serene! 

 Then down in the shining meadows,
 I saw the cows and the sheep,
 Upon the soft, dewy grasses,
 All lying fast asleep. 

 And far away in the distance,
 Upon a high steep hill,
 So gloomy, dark and solemn,
 The forest tall and still. 

 I saw the old mill below it,
 I heard the gurgling sound
 Of the rushing mountain brooklet
 That made the wheel go round. 

 I saw the waving wheatfields,
 With many a well filled head
 Which grew to make the flour
 Which gives us daily bread. 

 I laid me down and pondered
 O'er all those things I saw,
 And said, with deep devotion,
 How wondrous is God's law!