Page images
PDF
EPUB

Then feeks the fartheft ooze, the sheltering weed,
The cavern'd bank, his old secure abode ;
And flies aloft, and flounces round the pool,
Indignant of the guile. With yielding hand,
That feels him ftill, yet to his furious course
Gives way, you, now retiring, following now
Acrofs the ftream, exhaust his idle rage:
Till floating broad upon his breathless fide,
And to his fate abandon'd, to the fhore
You gaily drag your unrefisting prize.

435

Thus pafs the temperate hours: but when the fun
Shakes from his noon-day throne the scattering clouds,
Ev'n fhooting listless languor through the deeps;
Then feek the bank where flowering elders crowd,
Where scatter'd wild the lily of the vale

Its balmy effence breathes, where cowflips hang 445
The dewy head, where purple violets lurk,
With all the lowly children of the shade:
Or lie reclin'd beneath yon spreading ash,

Hung o'er the fteep; whence, borne on liquid wing,
The founding culver shoots; or where the hawk, 450
High, in the beetling cliff, his aëry builds.

There let the claffic page thy fancy lead

Through rural fcenes; fuch as the Mantuan fwain
Paints in the matchlefs harmony of fong.

Or catch thy felf the landskip, gliding swift
Athwart imagination's vivid eye:

459

Or by the vocal woods and waters lull'd,
And loft in lonely mufing, in the dream,
Confus'd, of careless folitude, where mix

Ten

460

Ten thousand wandering images of things,
Soothe every guft of paffion into peace;
All but the swellings of the soften'd heart,
That waken, not disturb, the tranquil mind.
Behold yon breathing prospect bids the Muse
Throw all her beauty forth. But who can paint 465
Like Nature? Can imagination boast,

Amid its gay creation, hues like hers?

Or can it mix them with that matchless skill,
And lofe them in each other, as appears
In every bud that blows? If fancy then
Unequal fails beneath the pleafing task,

Ah, what shall language do? ah, where find words
Ting'd with fo many colours; and whofe power,
To life approaching, may perfume my lays
With that fine oil, thofe aromatic gales,
That inexhaustive flow continual round?

Yet, though fuccefslefs, will the toil delight.

Come then, ye virgins and ye youths, whose hearts
Have felt the raptures of refining love;

470

475

And thou, Amanda, come, pride of my fong! 480 Form'd by the Graces, loveliness itself!

Come with thofe downcaft eyes, fedate and fweet,
Those looks demure, that deeply pierce the foul,
Where, with the light of thoughtful reason mix'd,
Shines lively fancy and the feeling heart:

O come! and while the rofy-footed May
Steals blushing on, together let us tread
The morning dews, and gather in their prime
Fresh-blooming flowers, to grace thy braided hair,
C 2

485

And

And thy lov'd bofom that improves their sweets.
See where the winding vale its lavish stores,
Irriguous, fpreads. See, how the lily drinks
The latent rill, fcarce oozing through the grafs,
Of growth luxuriant; or the humid bank,
In fair profufion, decks. Long let us walk,

490

495

Where the breeze blows from yon extended field

Of bloffom'd beans. Arabia cannot boast

A fuller gale of joy, than, liberal, thence

Breathes through the fenfe, and takes the ravish'd foul. Nor is the mead unworthy of thy foot,

500

Full of fresh verdure, and unnumber'd flowers,

The negligence of Nature, wide, and wild;

Where, undisguis'd by mimic Art, the spreads
Unbounded beauty to the roving eye.

Here their delicious task the fervent bees,

505

In fwarming millions, tend: around, athwart,
Through the soft air, the busy nations fly,
Cling to the bud, and, with inserted tube,
Suck its pure effence, its ethereal foul;

And oft, with bolder wing, they foaring dare

510

The purple heath, or where the wild thyme grows,

And yellow load them with the luscious spoil.

At length the finish'd garden to the view
Its viftas opens, and its alleys green.

Snatch'd through the verdant maze, the hurried eye
Distracted wanders; now the bowery walk
Of covert close, where scarce a fpeck of day
Falls on the lengthen'd gloom, protracted sweeps:
Now meets the bending fky; the river now

Dimpling

Dimpling along, the breezy ruffled lake,
The foreft darkening round, the glittering fpire,
Th' ethereal mountain, and the distant main.
But why so far excurfive? when at hand,
Along thefe blushing borders, bright with dew,
And in yon mingled wildernefs of flowers,
Fair-handed Spring unbofoms. every grace;
Throws out the snow-drop, and the crocus firft;
The daify, primrose, violet darkly blue,
And polyanthus of unnumber'd dyes;

520

525

The yellow wall-flower, ftain'd with iron-brown; 530
And lavish stock that fcents the garden round:
From the foft wing of vernal breezes shed,
Anemonies; auriculas, enrich'd

With fhining meal o'er all their velvet leaves ;
And full ranunculas of glowing red.

535

Then comes the tulip-race, where Beauty plays
Her idle freaks; from family diffus'd
To family, as flies the father-dust,

The varied colours run; and, while they break
On the charm'd eye, th' exulting florift marks,
With fecret pride, the wonders of his hand.
No gradual bloom is wanting; from the bud,
First-born of Spring, to Summer's musky tribes <
Nor hyacinths, of pureft virgin white,
Low-bent, and blushing inward; nor jonquils,
Of potent fragrance; nor Narciffus fair,

540

545

As o'er the fabled fountain hanging ftill;
Nor broad carnations, nor gay-spotted pinks;

Nor, shower'd from every bush, the damask-rose.

[blocks in formation]

Infinite numbers, delicacies, fmelis,

550

With hues on hues expreffion cannot paint,
The breath of Nature, and her endless bloom.
Hail, Source of Being! Univerfal Soul
Of heaven and earth! Effential Presence, hail!
To Thee I bend the knee; to Thee my thoughts, 555
Continual, climb; who, with a master-hand,
Haft the great whole into perfection touch'd.
By Thee the various vegetative tribes,
Wrapt in a filmy net, and clad with leaves,
Draw the live ether, and imbibe the dew:

By Thee difpos'd into congenial foils,

Stands each attractive plant, and fucks, and swells
The juicy tide; a twining mafs of tubes.

560

At Thy command the vernal fun awakes

The torpid fap, detruded to the root

By wintery winds; that now in fluent dance,

And lively fermentation, mounting, spreads
All this innumerous-colour'd fcene of things.
As rifing from the vegetable world

My theme afcends, with equal wing'afcend,
My panting Mufe; and hark, how loud the woods
Invite you forth in all your gayeft trim.

Lend me your fong, ye nightingales! oh! pour
The mazy-running foul of melody

varied verfe! while I deduce,

565

570

Into my

575

From the first note the hollow cuckoo fings,

The fymphony of Spring, and touch a theme

Unknown to fame, the Paffion of the groves.

When firft the foul of love is fent abroad,

Warm

« PreviousContinue »