The four seasons, and other poems. By James Thomson:

SPRING.

COME, gentle SPRING, AETHEREAL MILDNESS, come, And from the bosom of yon dropping cloud, While music wakes around, veil'd in a shower Of shadowing roses, on our plains descend.

O HERTFORD, fitted, or to shine in courts,Line 5 With unaffected grace; or walk the plain,

With INNOCENCE and MEDITATION join'd In soft assemblage, listen to my song, That thy own Season paints; when NATURE all Is blooming, and benevolent like thee.Line 10

AND see where surly WINTER passes off, Far to the north, and calls his ruffian blasts; His blasts obey, and quit the howling hill, The shatter'd forest, and the ravag'd vale: While softer gales succeed, at whose kind touch,Line 15 Dissolving snows in livid torrents lost, The mountains lift their green heads to the sky.

As yet the trembling year is unconfirm'd, And WINTER oft at eve resumes the breeze, Chills the pale morn, and bids his driving sleetsLine 20

Deform the day delightless; so that scarce The Bittern knows the time, with bill ingulpht To shake the sounding marsh; or from the shore The Plovers theirs, to scatter o'er the heath, And sing their wild notes to the listening waste.Line 25

AT last from ARIES rolls the bounteous sun, And the bright BULL receives him. Then no more Th' expansive atmosphere is cramp'd with cold, But full of life, and vivifying soul, Lifts the light clouds sublime, and spreads them thin, Fleecy, and white, o'er all-surrounding heaven.Line 31

FORTH fly the tepid airs; and unconfin'd Unbinding earth, the moving softness strays. Joyous th' impatient husbandman perceives Line 35

Relenting nature, and his lusty steers,Line 35 Drives from their stalls, to where the well-us'd plow Lies in the furrow loosen'd from the frost. There, unrefusing to the harness'd yoke, They lend their shoulder, and begin their toil, Chear'd by the simple song, and soaring lark.Line 40 Meanwhile incumbent o'er the shining share The master leans, removes th' obstructing clay, Winds the whole work, and sidelong lays the glebe.

WHITE thro' the neighbouring fields the sower stalks With measur'd step, and liberal throws the grainLine 45 Into the faithful bosom of the Ground. The harrow follows harsh, and shuts the scene.

BE gracious, HEAVEN! for now laborious man Has done his due. Ye fostering breezes, blow! Line 50

Ye softening dews, ye tender showers, descend!Line 50 And temper all, thou world-reviving sun, Into the perfect year! Nor, ye who live In luxury and ease, in pomp and pride, Think these lost themes unworthy of your ear. 'Twas such as these the rural MARO sung,Line 55 To the full ROMAN court, in all its height Of elegance and taste. The sacred plow Employ'd the kings and fathers of mankind, In antient times. And some, with whom compar'd You're but the beings of a summer's day,Line 60 Have held the scale of justice, shook the lance Of mighty war, then with descending hand, Unus'd to little delicacies, seiz'd The plow, and greatly independant liv'd.

YE generous BRITONS, cultivate the plow!Line 65 And o'er your hills, and long withdrawing vales, Let AUTUMN spread his treasures to the sun, Luxuriant, and unbounded. As the sea, Far thro' his azure, turbulent extent, Your empire owns, and from a thousand shoresLine 70 Wafts all the pomp of life into your ports; So with superior boon may your rich soil, Exuberant, nature's better blessings pour O'er every land, the naked nations cloath, And be th' exhaustless granary of a world.Line 75

NOR thro' the lenient air alone, this change Delicious breathes; the penetrative sun, His force deep darting to the dark retreat

Of vegetation, sets the steaming power At large, to wander o'er the verdant earth,Line 80 In various hues, but chiefly thee, gay GREEN! Thou smiling NATURE's universal robe! United light and shade! where the sight dwells With growing strength, and ever-new delight!

FROM the moist meadow to the brown-brow'd hill,Line 85 Led by the breeze, the vivid verdure runs, And swells, and deepens to the cherish'd eye. The hawthorn whitens; and the juicy groves Put forth their buds, unfolding by degrees, Till the whole leafy forest stands display'd,Line 90 In full luxuriance, to the sighing gales; While the deer rustle thro' the twining brake,

And the birds sing conceal'd. At once array'd In all the colours of the flushing year, By NATURE's swift and secret-working hand,Line 95 The garden glows, and fills the liberal air With lavish fragrance; while the promis'd fruit Lies yet a little embryo, unperceiv'd, Within its crimson folds. Now from the town Buried in smoke, and sleep, and noisom damps,Line 100 Oft let me wander o'er the dewy fields, Where freshness breathes, and dash the lucid drops From the bent bush, as thro' the fuming maze Of sweet-briar hedges I pursue my walk; Or taste the smell of dairy; or ascendLine 105 Some eminence, AUGUSTA, in thy plains, And see the country far diffus'd around One boundless blush, one white empurpled shower

Of mingled blossoms; where the raptur'd eye Travels from joy to joy, and hid beneathLine 110 The fair profusion, yellow AUTUMN spies.

IF brush'd from RUSSIAN wilds a cutting gale Rise not, and scatter from his foggy wings The bitter mildew, or dry-blowing breathe Untimely frost; before whose baleful blast,Line 115 The full-blown SPRING thro' all her foliage shrinks, Into a smutty, wide-dejected waste. For oft engender'd by the hazy north, Myriads on Myriads, insect armies waft Keen in the poison'd breeze; and wasteful eatLine 120 Thro' buds, and bark, into the blacken'd Core, Their eager way. A feeble race! scarce seen, Save by the prying eye? yet famine waits

On their corrosive course, and kills the year. Sometimes o'er cities as they steer their flight,Line 125 Where rising vapour melts their wings away, Gaz'd by th' astonish'd crowd, the horrid shower Descends. And hence the skilful farmer chaff. And blazing straw before his orchard burns; Till, all involv'd in smoke, the latent foeLine 130 From every cranny suffocated falls; Or onions, steaming hot, beneath his trees Exposes, fatal to the frosty tribe: Nor, from their friendly task, the busy bill Of little trooping birds instinctive scares.Line 135

THESE are not idle philosophick dreams, Full NATURE swarms with life. Th' unfaithful fen In putrid steams emits the livid cloud

Of Pestilence. Thro' subterranean Cells, Where searching sun-beams never found a way,Line 140 Earth animated heaves. The flowery leaf Wants not its soft inhabitants. The stone, Hard as it is, in every winding pore Holds multitudes. But chief the forest-boughs, Which dance unnumber'd to th' inspiring breeze,Line 145 The downy orchard, and the melting pulp Of mellow fruit the nameless nations feed Of evanescent Insects. Where the pool Stands mantled o'er with green, invisible, Amid the floating verdure millions stray.Line 150 Each liquid too, whether of acid taste, Potent, or mild, with various forms abounds. Nor is the lucid stream, nor the pure air, Tho' one transparent vacancy they seem, Line 155

Devoid of theirs. Even animals subsistLine 155 On animals, in infinite descent; And all so fine adjusted, that the loss Of the least species would disturb the whole. Stranger than this th' inspective glass confirms And to the curious gives th' amazing scenesLine 160 Of lessening life; by WISDOM kindly hid From eye, and ear of man: for if at once The worlds in worlds enclos'd were push'd to light, Seen by his sharpen'd eye, and by his ear Intensely bended heard, from the choice cate,Line 165 The freshest viands, and the brightest wines, He'd turn abhorrent, and in dead of night, When silence sleeps o'er all, be stun'd with noise.

THE North-east spends his rage, and now shut up Within his iron caves, th' effusive SouthLine 170 Warms the wide air, and o'er the void of heaven Breaths the big clouds with vernal showers distent. At first a dusky wreath they seem to rise, Scarce staining aether; but by fast degrees, In heaps on heaps, the doubling vapour sailsLine 175 Along the loaded sky, and mingling thick Sits on th' horizon round a settled gloom. Not such as wintry storms on mortals shed, Oppressing life, but lovely, gentle, kind, And full of every hope, and every joy,Line 180 The wish of nature. Gradual sinks the breeze Into a perfect calm; that not a breath Is heard to quiver thro' the closing woods,

Or rustling turn the many-twinkling leaves Of aspin tall. Th' uncurling floods, diffus'dLine 185 In glassy breadth, seem thro' delusive lapse Forgetful of their course. 'Tis silence all, And pleasing expectation. Herds and flocks Drop the dry sprig, and mute-imploring eye The falling verdure. Hush'd in short suspense,Line 190 The plumy people streak their wings with oil, And wait th' approaching sign to strike at once Into the general choir. Even mountains, vales, And forests seem, expansive, to demand The promis'd sweetness. Man superior walksLine 195 Amid the glad creation, musing praise, And looking lively gratitude. At last The clouds consign their treasures to the fields, And, softly shaking on the dimply pool Line 200

Prelusive drops, let all their moisture flow,Line 200 In large effusion o'er the freshen'd world, 'Tis scarce to patter heard, the stealing shower, By such as wander thro' the forest-walks, Beneath th' umbrageous multitude of leaves. But who can hold the shade, while HEAVEN descends In universal bounty, shedding herbs,Line 206 And fruits, and flowers, on NATURE's ample lap? Imagination fir'd prevents their growth, And while the verdant nutriment distills, Beholds the kindling country colour round.Line 210

THUS all day long the full-distended clouds Indulge their genial stores, and well-shower'd earth Is deep enrich'd with vegetable life; Till, in the western-sky, the downward sun Line 215

Looks out illustrious from amidst the flushLine 215 Of broken clouds, gay-shifting to his beam. The rapid radiance instantaneous strikes Th' illumin'd mountain thro' the forest streams, Shakes on the floods, and in a yellow mist, Far smoaking o'er th' interminable plain,Line 220 In twinkling myriads lights the dewy gems. Moist, bright, and green, the landskip laughs around. Full swell the woods; their every musick wakes, Mix'd in wild consort with the warbling brooks Increas'd, th'unnumber'd bleatings of the hills,Line 225 The hollow lows responsive from the vales, Whence blending all the sweeten'd zephyr springs. Mean time refracted from yon eastern cloud, Bestriding earth, the grand aethereal bow Shoots up immense! and every hue unfolds,Line 230

In fair proportion running from the red, To where the violet fades into the sky. Here, mighty NEWTON, the dissolving clouds Are, as they scatter round, thy numerous prism, Untwisting to the philosophic eyeLine 235 The various twine of light, by thee pursu'd Thro' the white mingling maze. Not so the swain, He wondering views the bright enchantment bend, Delightful, o'er the radiant fields, and runs To catch the falling glory; but amaz'dLine 240 Beholds th' amusive arch before him fly, Then vanish quite away. Still night succeeds, A soften'd shade, and saturated earth Awaits the morning beam, to give again, Transmuted soon by Nature's chymistry,Line 245 The blooming blessings of the former day.

THEN spring the living herbs, profusely wild, O'er all the deep-green earth, beyond the power Of BOTANIST to number up their tribes; Whether he steals along the lonely daleLine 250 In silent search; or thro' the forest, rank With what the dull incurious weeds account, Bursts his blind way; or climbs the mountain rock, Fir'd by the nodding verdure of its brow. With such a liberal hand has NATURE flungLine 255 Their seeds abroad, blown them about in winds, Innumerous mix'd them with the nursing mold, The moistening current, and prolific rain.

BUT who their virtues can declare? Who pierce With vision pure into these secret storesLine 260 Of life, and health, and joy? The food of man

While yet he liv'd in innocence, and told A length of golden years, unflesh'd in blood, A stranger to the savage arts of life, Death, rapine, carnage, surfeit, and disease,Line 265 The lord, and not the tyrant of the world.

THEN the glad morning wak'd the gladden'd race Of uncorrupted men, nor blush'd to see The sluggard sleep beneath her sacred beam. For their light slumbers gently fum'd away,Line 270 And up they rose as vigorous as the sun, Or to the culture of the willing glebe, Or to the chearful tendance of the flock. Mean time the song went round; and dance, and sport, Wisdom; and friendly talk successive stoleLine 275 Their hours away. While in the rosy vale

Love breath'd his infant sighs, from anguish free, Replete with bliss, and only wept for joy. Nor yet injurious act, nor surly deed Was known among these happy sons of heaven;Line 280 For reason and benevolence were law. Harmonious nature too look'd smiling on. Clean shone the skies, cool'd with eternal gales, And balmy spirit all. The youthful sun Shot his best rays; and still the gracious cloudsLine 285 Drop'd fatness down; as o'er the swelling mead The herds and flocks commixing play'd secure. Which when, emergent from the gloomy wood, The glaring lion saw, his horrid heart Was meeken'd, and he join'd his sullen joy.Line 290 For musick held the whole in perfect peace: Soft sigh'd the flute; the tender voice was heard,

Warbling the joyous heart; the woodlands round Apply'd their quire; and winds and waters flow'd In consonance. Such were these prime of days.Line 295

THIS to the POETS gave the golden age; When, as they sung in elevated phrase, The sailor-pine had not the nations yet In commerce mix'd; for every country teem'd With every thing. Spontaneous harvests wav'd,Line 300 Still in a sea of yellow plenty round. The forest was the vineyard, where untaught To climb, unprun'd and wild, the juicy grape Burst into floods of wine. The knotted oak Shook from his boughs the long transparent streams Of honey, creeping thro' the matted grass,Line 306 Th' uncultivated thorn a ruddy shower

Of fruitage shed, on such as sat below, In blooming ease, and from brown labour free, Save what the copious gathering, grateful gave.Line 310 The Rivers foam'd with nectar; or diffuse, Silent, and soft, the milky maze devolv'd. Nor had the spongy, full-expanded fleece, Yet drunk the TYRIAN dye. The stately ram Shone thro' the mead, in native purple clad,Line 315 Or milder saffron; and the dancing lamb The vivid crimson to the sun disclos'd. Nothing had power to hurt the savage soul, Yet untransfus'd into the tyger's heart, Burn'd not his bowels, nor his gamesome pawLine 320 Drove on the fleecy partners of his play: While from the flowery brake the serpent roll'd His fairer spires, and play'd his pointless tongue.

BUT now whate'er these gaudy fables meant, And the white minutes which they shadow'd out,Line 325 Are found no more amid those iron times, Those dregs of life! in which the human mind Has lost that harmony ineffable, Which warms the soul of happiness; and all Is off the poise within; the passions allLine 330 Have burst their bounds; and reason half extinct, Or impotent, or else approving, sees The foul disorder. Anger storms at large, Without an equal cause; and fell revenge Supports the falling rage. Close envy bitesLine 335 With venom'd tooth; while weak, unmanly fear, Full of frail fancies, loosens every power. Even love itself is bitterness of soul,

A pleasing anguish pining at the heart. Hope sickens with extravagance; and grief,Line 340 Of life impatient, into madness swells; Or in dead silence wastes the weeping hours. These, and a thousand mix'd emotions more, From ever-changing views of good and ill, Form'd infinitely various, vex the mindLine 345 With endless storm. Whence, inly-rankling, grows The selfish thought, a listless inconcern, Cold, and averting from our neighbour's good; Then dark disgust, and malice, winding wiles, Sneaking deceit, and coward villany:Line 350 At last deep-rooted hatred, lewd reproach, Convulsive wrath, and thoughtless fury, quick To deeds of vilest aim. Even nature's self Is deem'd, vindictive, to have chang'd her course.

HENCE in old time, they say, a deluge came; When the disparting orb of earth, that arch'dLine 356 Th' imprison'd deep around, impetuous rush'd, With ruin inconceivable, at once Into the gulph, and o'er the highest hills Wide-dash'd the waves, in undulation vast:Line 360 'Till, from the centre to the streaming clouds, A shoreless ocean tumbled round the globe.

THE SEASONS since, as hoar TRADITION tells, Have kept their constant chase; the WINTER keen Pour'd out his waste of snows; and SUMMER shot His pestilential heats; great SPRING beforeLine 365 Green'd all the year; and fruits and blossoms blush'd In social sweetness on the self-same bough.

Clear was the temperate air; an even calm Perpetual reign'd, save what the zephyrs bland Breath'd o'er the blue expanse; for then nor storms Were taught to blow, nor hurricanes to rage;Line 371 Sound slept the waters: no sulphureous glooms Swell'd in the sky, and sent the lightning forth: While sickly damps, and cold autumnal fogs, Sat not pernicious on the springs of life.Line 375 But now, from clear to cloudy, moist to dry, And hot to cold, in restless change revolv'd, Our drooping days are dwindled down to nought, The fleeting shadow of a winter's sun.

AND yet the wholesome herb neglected diesLine 380 In lone obscurity, unpriz'd for food; Altho' the pure, exhilerating soul

Of nutriment, and health, salubrious breathes, By HEAVEN infus'd, along its secret tubes. For, with hot ravine fir'd, ensanguin'd manLine 385 Is now become the lion of the plain, And worse. The wolf, who from the nightly fold Fierce-drags the bleating prey, ne'er drunk her milk, Nor wore her warming fleece: nor has the steer, At whose strong chest the deadly tyger hangs,Line 390 E'er plow'd for him. They too are temper'd high, With hunger stung, and wild necessity,Line 395 Nor lodges pity in their shaggy breasts. But MAN, whom NATURE form'd of milder clay, With every kind emotion in his heart, And taught alone to weep; while from her lap She pours ten thousand delicacies, herbs, And fruits, as numerous as the drops of rain,

And beams that gave them birth: shall he, fair form! Who wears sweet smiles, and looks erect on heaven, E'er stoop to mingle with the prowling herd, And dip his tongue in blood? The beast of prey, 'Tis true, deserves the fate in which he deals. Him, from the thicket, let the hardy youthLine 405 Provoke, and foaming thro' the awakened woods With every nerve pursue. But you, ye flocks, What have ye done? Ye peaceful people, what, To merit death? You, who have given us milk In luscious streams, and lent us your own coatLine 410 Against the winter's cold? Whose usefulness In living only lies? And the plain ox, That harmless, honest, guileless animal, In what has he offended? He, whose toil, Patient and ever-ready; clothes the landLine 415

With all the pomp of harvest; shall he bleed, And wrestling groan beneath the cruel hands Even of the clowns he feeds? And that perhaps To swell the riot of the gathering feast, Won by his labour? Thus the feeling heartLine 420 Would tenderly suggest: but 'tis enough, In this late age, adventurous to have touch'd, Light on the numbers of the SAMIAN sage. High HEAVEN beside forbids the daring strain, Whose wisest will has fix'd us in a state,Line 425 That must not yet to pure perfection rise.

BUT yonder breathing prospect bids the muse Throw all her beauty forth, that daubing all Will be to what I gaze; for who can paint Like NATURE? Can IMAGINATION boast,Line 430

Amid his gay creation, hues like hers? And can he mix them with that matchless skill, And lay them on so delicately fine, And lose them in each other, as appears In every bud that blows? If fancy thenLine 435 Unequal fails beneath the lovely task; Ah what shall language do? Ah where find words Ting'd with so many colours? And whose power To life approaching, may perfume my lays With that fine oil, these aromatic gales,Line 440 Which inexhaustive flow continual round?

YET, tho' successless, will the toil delight. Come then, ye virgins, and ye youths, whose hearts Have felt the raptures of refining love; Oh come, and while the rosy-footed MAYLine 445

Steals blushing on, together let us walk The morning dews, and gather in their prime Fresh-blooming flowers, to deck the braided hair, And the white bosom that improves their sweets.

SEE, where the winding vale her lavish stores, Irriguous, spreads. See, how the lilly drinksLine 451 The latent rill, scarce oozing thro' the grass Of growth luxuriant; or the humid bank Profusely climbs. Turgent, in every pore The gummy moisture shines; new lustre lends, And feeds the spirit that diffusive roundLine 456 Refreshes ail the dale. Long let us walk, Where the breeze blows from yon extended field Of blossom'd beans: ARABIA cannot boast A fuller gale of joy than, liberal, thenceLine 460

Breathes thro' the sense, and takes the ravish'd soul. Nor is the meadow worthless of our foot, Full of fresh verdure, and unnumber'd flowers, The negligence of NATURE, wide, and wild; Where undisguis'd by mimic ART, she spreads Unbounded beauty to the boundless eye.Line 466 'Tis here that their delicious task the bees, In swarming millions, tend. Around, athwart, This way, and that, the busy nations fly, Cling to the bud, and with inserted tube,Line 470 Its soul, its sweetness, and its manna suck. The little chymist thus, all-moving HEAVEN Has taught: and oft, of bolder wing, he dares The purple heath, or where the wild-thyme grows, And yellow loads him with the luscious spoil.Line 475

AT length the finish'd garden to the view Its vistas opens, and its alleys green. Snatch'd thro' the verdant maze, the hurried eye Distracted wanders; now the bowery walk Of covert close, where scarce a speck of dayLine 480 Falls on the lengthen'd gloom, protracted darts; Now meets the bending sky, the river now Dimpling along, the breezy-ruffled lake, The forest running round, the rising spire, Th' aethereal mountain, and the distant main.Line 485 But why so far excursive? when at hand, Along the blushing borders, dewy-bright, And in yon mingled wilderness of flowers, Fair-handed SPRING unbosoms every grace;

Throws out the snow-drop, and the crocus first, The daily, primrose, violet darkly blue,Line 491 Dew-bending cowslips, and of nameless dyes Anemonies, auriculas a tribe Peculiar powder'd with a shining sand, Renunculas, and iris many-hued.Line 495 Then comes the tulip-race, where beauty plays Her gayest freaks: from family diffus'd To family, as flies the father-dust, The varied colours run; and while they BREAK On the charm'd FLORIST's eye, he curious stands, And new-flush'd glories all ecstatic marks.Line 501 Nor hyacinths are wanting, nor junquils Of potent fragrance, nor narcissus white, Nor stripe'd carnations, nor enamell'd pinks, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 •…•…ower'd from every bush the damask-rose.Line 505

Infinite numbers, delicacies, smells, With hues on hues expression cannot paint, The breath of NATURE, and her endless bloom.

HAIL, MIGHTY BEING! UNIVERSAL SOULLine 509 Of heaven and earth! ESSENTIAL PRESENCE, hail! To THEE I bend the knee; to THEE my thoughts Continual climb; who, with a master-hand, Hast the great whole into perfection touch'd. By THEE, the various vegetative tribes, Wrapt in a filmy net, and clad with leaves,Line 515 Draw the live aether, and imbibe the dew. By THEE dispos'd into congenial soils, Stands each attractive plant, and sucks, and swells The juicy tide; a twining mass of tubes. At THY command, the vernal sun awakesLine 520

The torpid sap, detruded to the root By wintry winds, that now, in fluent dance, And lively fermentation, mounting, spreads All this innumerous-colour'd scene of things.

ASCENDING from the vegetable worldLine 525 To higher life, with equal wing ascend, My panting Muse; and hark, how loud the woods Invite you forth in all your gayest trim. Lend me your song, ye nightingales! oh pour The mazy-running soul of melodyLine 530 Into my varied verse! while I deduce, From the first note the hollow cuckoo sings, The symphony of SPRING, and touch a theme Unknown to fame, THE PASSION OF THE GROVES.

JUST as the spirit of love is sent abroad,Line 535 Warm thro' the vital air, and on their hearts Harmonious seizes, the gay troops begin, In gallant thought, to plume the painted wing; And try again the long-forgotten strain, At first faint-warbled. But no sooner growsLine 540 The soft infusion prevalent, and wide, Than, all alive, at once their joy o'erflows In musick unconfin'd. Up-springs the lark, Shrill-voiced, and loud, the messenger of morn; E'er yet the shadows fly, he mounted singsLine 545 Amid the dawning clouds, and from their haunts Calls up the tuneful nations. Every copse Thick-wove, and tree irregular, and bush Bending with dewy moisture, o'er the heads Line 550

Of the coy quiristers that lodge within,Line 550 Are prodigal of harmony. The thrush And wood-lark, o'er the kind-contending throng Superior heard, run thro' the sweetest length Of notes; when listening PHILOMELA deigns To let them joy, and purposes, in thoughtLine 555 Elate, to make her night excel their day. The black-bird whistles from the thorny brake; The mellow bull-finch answers from the grove: Nor are the linnets, o'er the flowering furze Pour'd out profusely, silent. Join'd to theseLine 560 Thousands beside, thick as the covering leaves They warble under, or the nitid hues That speck them o'er, their modulations mix Mellifluous. The jay, the rook, the daw, And each harsh pipe, discordant heard alone,Line 565

Here aid the consort: while the stock-dove breathes A melancholy murmur thro' the whole.

'TIS love creates their gaiety, and all This waste of musick is the voice of love; Which even to birds, and beasts, the tender arts Of pleasing teaches. Hence the glossy kindLine 571 Try every winning way inventive love Can dictate, and in fluttering courtship pour Their little souls before her. Wide around, Respectful, first in airy rings they rove,Line 575 Endeavouring by a thousand tricks to catch The cunning, conscious, half-averted glance Of their regardless charmer. Should she seem Softening the least approvance to bestow, Their colours burnish, and by hope inspir'dLine 580

They brisk advance; then on a sudden struck Retire disorder'd; then again approach; And throwing out the last efforts of love, In fond rotation spread the spotted wing, And shiver every feather with desire.Line 585

CONNUBIAL leagues agreed, to the deep woods They haste away, each as their fancy leads, Pleasure, or food, or secret safety prompts; That NATURE's great command may be obey'd, Nor all the sweet sensations they perceiveLine 590 Indulg'd in vain. Some to the holly-hedge Nestling repair, and to the thicket some; Some to the rude protection of the thorn Resolve to trust their young. The clested tree Offers its kind concealment to a few,Line 595

Their food its insects, and its moss their nests. Others apart far in the grassy dale Their humble texture weave. But most delight In unfrequented glooms, or shaggy banks, Steep, and divided by a babbling brook,Line 600 Whose murmurs sooth them all the live-long day, When for a season fix'd. Among the roots Of hazel, pendant o'er the plaintive stream, They frame the first foundation of their domes, Dry sprigs of trees, in artful manner laid,Line 605 And bound with clay together. Now 'tis nought But hurry hurry thro' the busy air, Beat by unnumber'd wings. The swallow sweeps The slimy pool, to build his hanging house Ingeniously intent. Oft from the backLine 610 Of herds and flocks a thousand tugging bills

Pluck hair, and wool; and oft, when unobserv'd, Steal from the barn the straw; till soft, and warm, Clean, and compleat, their habitation grows.

As thus the patient dam assiduous sits,Line 615 Not to be tempted from her tender task, Or by sharp hunger, or by smooth delight, Tho' the whole loosen'd Spring around her blows, Her sympathizing lover takes his stand High on th'opponent bank, and ceaseless singsLine 620 The tedious time away; or else supplies Her place a moment, while she sudden flits To pick the scanty meal. Th' appointed time With pious toil fulfill'd, the callow young Warm'd, and expanded into perfect life,Line 625 Their brittle bondage break, and come to light,

A helpless family, demanding food With constant clamour. Oh what passions then, What melting sentiments of kindly care Seize the new parents' hearts? Away they flyLine 630 Affectionate, and undesiring bear The most delicious morsel to their young, Which equally distributed, again The search begins. So pitiful, and poor, A gentle pair on providential HEAVENLine 635 Cast, as they weeping eye their clamant train, Check their own appetites, and give them all.

NOR is the courage of the fearful kind, Nor is their cunning less, should some rude foot Their woody haunts molest; stealthy asideLine 640 Into the centre of a neighbouring bush

They drop, and whirring thence alarm'd, deceive The rambling school-boy. Hence around the head Of traveller, the white-wing'd plover wheels Her sounding flight, and then directly onLine 645 In long excursion skims the level lawn, To tempt you from her nest. The wild-duck hence O'er the rough moss, and o'er the trackless waste The heath-hen flutters, as if hurt, to lead The hot pursuing spaniel far astray.Line 650

BE not the muse asham'd, here to bemoan Her brothers of the grove, by tyrant man Inhuman caught, and in the narrow cage From liberty confin'd, and boundless air. Dull are the pretty slaves, their plumage dull,Line 655 Ragged, and all its brightning lustre lost;

Nor is that luscious wildness in their notes That warbles from the beech. Oh then desist, Ye friends of harmony! this barbarous art Forbear, if innocence and musick canLine 660 Win on your hearts, or piety persuade.

BUT let not chief the nightingale lament Her ruin'd care, too delicately fram'd To brook the harsh confinement of the cage. Oft when returning with her loaded bill,Line 665 Th' astonish'd mother finds a vacant nest, By the hard hand of unrelenting clowns Robb'd, to the ground the vain provision falls; Her pinions ruffle, and low-drooping scarce Can bear the mourner to the poplar shade;Line 670 Where, all abandon'd to despair, she sings

Her sorrows thro' the night; and, on the bough Sad-sitting, still at every dying fall Takes up again her lamentable strain Of winding woe, till wide around the woodsLine 675 Sigh with her song, and with her wail resound.

AND now the feather'd youth their former bounds Ardent disdain, and weighing oft their wings, Demand the free possession of the sky. But this glad office more, and then dissolvesLine 680 Parental love at once; for needless grown, Unlavish WISDOM never works in vain. 'Tis on some evening, sunny, grateful, mild, When nought but balm is breathing thro' the woods, With yellow lustre bright, that the new tribesLine 685 Visit the spacious heavens, and look abroad

On NATURE's common, far as they can see, Or wing, their range, and pasture. O'er the boughs Dancing about, still at the giddy verge Their resolution fails; their pinions still,Line 690 In loose libration stretch'd, the void abrupt Trembling refuse: till down before them fly The parent-guides, and chide, exhort, command, Or push them off. The surging air receives The plumy burden; and their self-taught wingsLine 695 Winnow the waving element. On ground Alighted, bolder up again they lead Farther and farther on the lengthning flight; Till vanish'd every fear, and every power Rouz'd into life, and action in the voidLine 700 Th' exoner'd parents see their soaring race, And once rejoicing never know them more.

HIGH from the summit of a craggy cliff, Hung o'er the green sea, grudging at its base, The royal eagle draws his young, resolv'dLine 705 To try them at the sun. Strong-pounc'd, and bright As burnish'd day, they up the blue sky wind, Leaving dull sight below, and with fix'd gaze Drink in their native noon: the father-king Claps his glad pinions, and approves the birth.Line 710

AND should I wander to the rural fear, Whose aged oaks, and venerable gloom, Invite the noisy rook; with pleasure there, I might the various polity survey Of the mixt houshold kind. The careful henLine 715 Calls all her chirping family around,

Fed, and defended by the fearless cock, Whose breast with ardour flames, as on he walks Graceful, and crows defiance. In the pond, The finely-checker'd duck, before her train,Line 720 Rows garrulous. The stately-sailing swan Gives out his snowy plumage to the gale, And, arching proud his neck, with oary feet Bears forward fierce, and beats you from the bank, Protective of his young. The turkey nigh,Line 725 Loud-threatning, reddens; while the peacock spreads His every-colour'd glory to the sun, And swims in floating majesty along. O'er the whole homely scene, the cooing dove Flies thick in amorous chace, and wanton rollsLine 730 The glancing eye, and turns the changeful neck.

WHILE thus the gentle tenants of the shade Indulge their purer loves, the rougher world Of brutes below, rush furious into flame, And fierce desire. Thro' all his lusty veinsLine 735 The bull, deep-scorch'd, receives the raging fire. Of pasture sick, and negligent of food, Scarce seen, he wades among the yellow broom, While o'er his brawny back the rambling sprays Luxuriant shoot; or thro' the mazy woodLine 740 Dejected wanders, nor th' inticing bud Crops, tho' it presses on his careless sense: For, wrapt in mad imagination, he Roars for the fight, and idly butting, feigns A rival gor'd in every knotty trunk.Line 745 Such should he meet, the bellowing war begins;

Their eyes flash fury; to the hollow'd earth, Whence the sand flies, they mutter bloody deeds, And groaning vast th' impetuous battle mix: While the fair heifer, redolent, in viewLine 750 Stands kindling up their rage. The trembling steed, With this hot impulse seiz'd in every nerve, Nor hears the rein, nor heeds the sounding whip; Blows are not felt; but tossing high his head, And by the well-known joy, to distant plainsLine 755 Attracted strong, all wild, he bursts away; O'er rocks, and woods, and craggy mountains flies, And neighing, on the aerial summit takes Th' informing gale; then steep-descending, cleaves The headlong torrents foaming down the hills,Line 760 Even where the madness of the straiten'd streams

Turns in black eddies round: Such is the force With which his frantick heart, and sinews swell.

NOR, undelighted by the boundless SPRING, Are the broad monsters of the boiling deep:Line 765 From the deep ooze, and gelid cavern rous'd, They flounce, and tumble in unwieldy joy. Dire were the strain, and dissonant, to sing The cruel raptures of the savage kind: How the red lioness, her whelps forgotLine 770 Amid the thoughtless fury of her heart; The lank rapacious wolf; th' unshapely bear; The spotted tyger, fellest of the fell; And all the terrors of the LIBYAN swain, By this new flame their native wrath sublim'd,Line 775 Roam the resounding waste in fiercer bands,

And growl their horrid loves. But this the theme I sing, transported, to the BRITISH fair, Forbids, and leads me to the mountain-brow, Where sits the shepherd on the grassy turf,Line 780 Inhaling, healthful, the descending sun. Around him feeds his many-bleating flock Of various cadence; and his sportive lambs, This way, and that, convolv'd in friskful glee, Their little frolicks play. And now the raceLine 785 Invites them forth; when swift the signal given, They start away, and sweep the massy mound That runs around the hill; the rampart once Of iron war, in ancient barbarous times, When disunited BRITAIN ever bled,Line 790 Lost in eternal broil; e'er yet she grew To this deep-laid, indissoluble state,

Where WEALTH and COMMERCE lift their golden head, And o'er our Labours, LIBERTY and LAW Illustrious watch, the wonder of a world!Line 795

WHAT is this MIGHTY BREATH, ye curious say, Which, in a language rather felt than heard, Instructs the fowls of heaven; and thro' their breasts These arts of love diffuses? What, but GOD? Inspiring GOD! who boundless spirit all,Line 800 And unremitted energy pervades, Adjusts, sustains, and agitates the whole. He ceaseless works alone, and yet alone Seems not to work, with such perfection fram'd Is this complex, amazing scheme of things.Line 805 But tho' conceal'd, to every purer eye

Th' informing author in his work appears; His grandeur in the heavens: the sun, and moon, Whether that fires the day, or falling, this Pours out a lucid softness o'er the night,Line 810 Are but a beam from him. The glittering stars, By the deep ear of meditation heard, Still in their midnight watches sing of him. He nods a calm. The tempest blows his wrath, Roots up the forest and o'erturns the main.Line 815 The thunder is his voice; and the red flash His speedy sword of justice. At his touch The mountains flame. He takes the solid earth, And rocks the nations. Nor in these alone, In every common instance GOD is seen;Line 820 And to the man who casts his mental eye Abroad unnotic'd wonders rise. But chief

In thee, boon SPRING, and in thy softer scenes, The SMILING GOD appears; while water, earth, And air attest his bounty, which instilsLine 825 Into the brutes this temporary thought, And annual melts their undesigning hearts Profusely thus in tenderness, and joy.

STILL let my song a nobler note assume, And sing th' infusive force of SPRING on man;Line 830 When heaven and earth, as if contending, vie To raise his being, and serene his soul, Can he forbear to smile with NATURE? Can The stormy passions in his bosom rowl, While every gale is peace, and every groveLine 835 Is melody? Hence, from the bounteous walks Of flowing SPRING, ye sordid sons of earth,

Hard, and unfeeling, of another's woe, Or only lavish to yourselves; away.Line 839 But come, ye generous breasts, in whose wide thought, Of all his works, CREATIVE BOUNTY, most, Divinely burns; and on your open front, And liberal eye, sits, from his dark retreat Inviting modest want. Nor only fair, And easy of approach; your active searchLine 845 Leaves no cold wintry corner unexplor'd, Like silent-working HEAVEN, surprizing oft The lonely heart with unexpected good. For you the roving spirit of the wind Blows SPRING abroad; for you the teaming clouds Descend in buxom plenty o'er the world;Line 851 And the sun spreads his genial blaze for you, Ye flower of human race! In these green days,

Sad-pining sickness lifts her languid head; Life flows afresh; and young-ey'd health exaltsLine 855 The whole creation round. Contentment walks The sunny glade, and feels an inward bliss Spring o'er his mind, beyond the power of kings To purchase. Pure serenity apace Induces thought, and contemplation still.Line 860 By small degrees the love of nature works, And warms the bosom; till at last arriv'd To rapture, and enthusiastic heat, We feel the present DEITY, and taste The joy of GOD, to see a happy world.Line 865

'TIS HARMONY, that world-attuning power, By which all beings are adjusted, each To all around, impelling, and impell'd,

In endless circulation, that inspires This universal smile. Thus the glad skies,Line 870 The wide rejoycing earth, the woods, the streams, With every LIFE they hold, down to the flower That paints the lowly vale, or insect-wing Wav'd o'er the shepherd's slumber, touch the mind To nature tun'd, with a light-flying hand,Line 875 Invisible; quick-urging, thro' the nerves, The glittering spirits in a flood of day.

HENCE from the virgin's check, a fresher bloom Shoots, less and less, the live carnation round; Her lips blush deeper sweets; she breathes of youth; The shining moisture swells into her eyes,Line 881 In brighter flow; her wishing bosom heaves With palpitations wild; kind tumults seize

Her veins, and all her yielding soul is love. From the keen gaze her lover turns away,Line 885 Full of the dear ecstatic power, and sick With sighing languishment. Ah then, ye fair! Be greatly cautious of your sliding hearts; Dare not th' infectious sigh; the pleading eye, In meek submission drest, deject, and low,Line 890 But full of tempting guile. Let not the tongue, Prompt to deceive, with adulation smooth, Gain on your purpos'd wills. Nor in the bower, Where woodbines flaunt, and roses shed a couch, While evening draws her crimson curtains round,Line 895 Trust your soft minutes with betraying man.

AND let th' aspiring youth beware of love, Of the smooth glance beware; for 'tis too late,

When on his heart the torrent softness pours. Then wisdom prostrate lies; and fading fameLine 900 Dissolves in air away: while the fond soul Is wrapt in dreams of ecstacy, and bliss; Still paints th' illusive form; the kindling grace; Th' inticing smile; the modest-seeming eye, Beneath whose beauteous beams, belying heaven,Line 905 Lurk searchless cunning, cruelty, and death: And still, false-warbling in his cheated ear, Her syren voice, enchanting, draws him on, To guileful shores, and meads of fatal joy.

EVEN present in the very lap of loveLine 910 Inglorious laid; while musick flows around, Perfumes, and oils, and wine, and wanton hours, Amid the roses fierce Repentance rears

Her snaky crest: a quick returning twinge Shoots thro' the conscious heart; where honour still, And great design against th' oppressive loadLine 916 Of luxury, by fits, impatient heave.

BUT absent, what fantastick pangs arrous'd, Rage in each thought, by restless musing fed, Chill the warm cheek, and blast the bloom of life? Neglected fortune flies; and sliding swift,Line 921 Prone into ruin, fall his scorn'd affairs. 'Tis nought but gloom around. The darken'd sun Loses his light. The rosy-bosom'd SPRING To weeping fancy pines; and yon bright archLine 925 Of heaven, low-bends into a dusky vault. All nature fades extinct; and she alone Heard, felt, and seen, possesses every thought,

Fills every sense, and pants in every vein. Books are but formal dulness, tedious Friends,Line 930 And sad amid the social band he sits, Lonely and inattentive. From the tongue Th' unfinish'd period falls: while, borne away On swelling thought, his wafted spirit flies To the vain bosom of his distant fair;Line 935 And leaves the semblance of a lover, fix'd In melancholy site, with head declin'd, And love-dejected eyes. Sudden he starts, Shook from his tender trance, and restless runs To glimmering shades, and sympathetick glooms,Line 940 Where the dun umbrage o'er the falling stream Romantic hangs; there thro' the pensive dusk Strays, in heart-thrilling meditation lost, Indulging all to love: or on the bank Line 945

Thrown, amid drooping lillies, swells the breezeLine 945 With sighs unceasing, and the brook with tears. Thus in soft anguish he consumes the day, Nor quits his deep retirement, till the moon Peeps thro' the chambers of the fleecy east, Enlighten'd by degrees, and in her trainLine 950 Leads on the gentle hours; then forth he walks, Beneath the trembling languish of her beams, With soften'd soul, and wooes the bird of eve To mingle woes with his: or while the world, And all the sons of care, lie hush'd in sleep,Line 955 Associates with the midnight shadows drear; And, sighing to the lonely taper, pours His idly-tortur'd heart into the page, Meant for the moving messenger of love; Where rapture burns on rapture, every lineLine 960

With rising frenzy fir'd. But if on bed Delirious flung, sleep from his pillow flies. All night he tosses, nor the balmy power In any posture finds; till the grey morn Lifts her pale lustre on the paler wretch,Line 965 Exanimate by love: and then perhaps Exhausted nature sinks a while to rest, Still interrupted by distracted dreams, That o'er the sick imagination rise, And in black colours paint the mimick scene.Line 970 Oft with th' enchantress of his soul he talks; Sometimes in crouds distress'd; or if retir'd To secret-winding, flower-enwoven bowers, Far from the dull impertinence of man, Just as he, credulous, his thousand caresLine 975 Begins to lose in blind oblivious love,

Snatch'd from her yielded hand, he knows not how, Thro' forests huge, and long untravel'd heaths With desolation brown, he wanders waste, In night and tempest wrapt; or shrinks aghast,Line 980 Back, from the bending precipice; or wades The turbid stream below, and strives to reach The farther shore; where succourless, and sad, Wild as a Bacchanal she spreads her arms, But strives in vain, borne by th' outragious floodLine 985 To distance down, he rides the ridgy wave, Or whelm'd beneath the boiling eddy sinks. Then a weak, wailing lamentable cry Is heard, and all in tears he wakes, again To tread the circle of revolving woe.Line 990 These are the charming agonies of love, Whose misery delights. But thro' the heart

Should jealousy its venom once diffuse, 'Tis then delightful misery no more, But agony unmix'd, incessant rage,Line 995 Corroding every thought, and blasting all Love's paradise. Ye fairy prospects then Ye beds of roses, and ye bowers of joy, Farewell! Ye gleamings of departing peace, Shine out your last! the yellow tinging plague Internal vision taints, and in a nightLine 1001 Of livid gloom imagination wraps. Ay then instead of love-enliven'd cheeks, Of funny features, and of ardent eyes With flowing raptures bright, dark looks succeed, Suffus'd, and glaring with untender fire,Line 1006 A clouded aspect, and a burning cheek,

Where the whole poison'd soul, malignant, sits, And frightens love away. Ten thousand fears Invented wild, ten thousand frantick viewsLine 1010 Of horrid rivals, hanging on the charms For which he melts in fondness, eat him up With fervent anguish, and consuming pine. In vain reproaches lend their idle aid, Deceitful pride, and resolution frail,Line 1015 Giving a moment's ease. Reflection pours, Afresh, her beauties on his busy thought, Her first endearments, twining round the soul, With all the witchcraft of ensnaring love.

Strait the fierce storm involves his mind anew,Line 1020 Flames thro' the nerves, and boils along the veins; While anxious doubt distracts the tortur'd heart;

For even the sad assurance of his fears Were peace to what he feels. Thus the warm youth, Whom love deludes into his thorny wilds,Line 1025 Thro' flowery-tempting paths, or leads a life Of feaver'd rapture, or of cruel care; His brightest aims extinguish'd all, and all His lively moments running down to waste.

BUT happy they! the happiest of their kind! Whom gentler stars unite, and in one fateLine 1031 Their hearts, their fortunes, and their beings blend. 'Tis not the coarser tie of human laws, Unnatural oft, and foreign to the mind, That binds their peace, but harmony itself,Line 1035

Attuning all their passions into love; Where friendship full-exerts his softest power, Perfect esteem enliven'd by desire Ineffable, and sympathy of soul,Line 1039 Thought meeting thought, and will preventing will, With boundless confidence; for nought but love Can answer love, and render bliss secure. Let him, ungenerous, who, alone intent To bless himself, from sordid parents buys The loathing virgin, in eternal care,Line 1045 Well-merited, consume his nights and days: Let barbarous nations, whose inhuman love Is wild desire, fierce as the suns they feel; Let eastern tyrants from the light of heaven Seclude their bosom-slaves, meanly possess'dLine 1050

Of a meer, lifeless, violated form: While those whom love cements, in holy faith, And equal transport, free as nature, live, Disdaining fear; for what's the world to them, Its pomp, its pleasure, and its nonsense all!Line 1055 Who in each other clasp whatever fair High fancy forms, and lavish hearts can wish, Something than beauty dearer, should they look Or on the mind, or mind-illumin'd face, Truth, goodness, honour, harmony, and love,Line 1060 The richest bounty of indulgent HEAVEN. Mean-time a smiling Offspring rises round, And mingles both their graces. By degrees, The human blossom blows; and every day, Soft as it rolls along, shews some new charm,Line 1065

The father's lustre, and the mother's bloom. Then infant reason grows apace, and calls For the kind hand of an assiduous care: Delightful task! to rear the tender thought, To teach the young idea how to shoot,Line 1070 To pour the fresh instruction o'er the mind, To breathe th' inspiring spirit, and to plant The generous purpose in the glowing breast. Oh speak the joy! you whom the sudden tear Surprizes often, while you look around,Line 1075 And nothing strikes your eye but sights of bliss, All various nature pressing on the heart, Obedient fortune, and approving HEAVEN. These are the blessings of diviner love; And thus their moments fly. The seasons thus,Line 1080

As ceaseleless round a jarring world they roll, Still find them happy; and consenting SPRING Sheds her own rosy garland on their head: Till evening comes at last, cool, gentle, calm; When after the long vernal day of life,Line 1085 Enamour'd more, as soul approaches soul, Together, down they sink in social sleep.

FINIS.