# The Seasons (Thomson)/Spring

SPRING.
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The Argument.
The subject proposed. Inscribed to the Countess of Hartford. This Season is described as it affects the various parts of Nature, ascending from the lower to the higher; and mixed with digressions arising from the subject. Its influence on inanimate Matter, on Vegetables, on brute Animals, and last on Man; concluding with a dissuasive from the wild and irregular passion of Love, opposed to that of a pure and happy kind.
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SPRING.
COME, gentle Spring, æthereal 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 Hartford, fitted, or to shine in courts5 With unaffected grace, or walk the plain With innocence and meditation join'd In soft assemblage, listen to my song, Which thy own Season paints! when Nature all Is blooming, and benevolent like thee.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,15 Disolving 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 sleets20 Deform the day delightless; so that scarce
The Bittern knows his time, with bill ingulpht, To shake the sounding marsh; or from the shore The Plover when to scatter o'er the heath, And sing their wild notes to the listening waste.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,30 Fleecy, and white, o'er all-surrounding heaven.
Forth fly the tepid airs; and unconfin'd, Unbinding earth, the moving softness strays. Joyous th'impatient husbandman perceives Relenting nature, and his lusty steers35 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.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 grain45 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 part. Ye fostering breezes, blow! Ye softening dews, ye tender showers, descend!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 low scenes unworthy of your ear: Such themes as these the rural Maro sung55 To wide-imperial Rome, in the full height Of elegance and taste, by Grece refin'd. In ancient times, the sacred plow employ’d The kings and awful fathers of mankind: And some, with whom compar’d, your insect-tribes60 Are but the beings of a summer's day, Have held the scale of empire, rul'd the storm Of mighty war; then, with unwearied hand, Disdaining little delicacies, seiz'd The plow, and greatly independent liv'd.65
Ye generous Britons, venerate the plough! 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 domain,70 Your empire owns, and from a thousand shores 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 cloathe,75 And be th' exhaustless granary of a world!
Nor thro' the lenient air this change, Delicious, breathes; the penetrative sun, His force deep-darting to the dark retreat Of vegetation, sets the steaming Power80 At large, to wander o'er the vernant earth, 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.85
From the moist meadow to the withered hill, 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,90 Till the whole leafy forest stands display'd, 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,95 By nature's swift and secret-working hand, 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 town100 Buried in smoke, and sleep, and noisom damps, Oft let me wander o'er the dewy fields, Where freshness breathes, and dash the trembling drops From the bent bush, as thro' the verdant maze Of sweet-briar hedges I pursue my walk:105 Or taste the smell of dairy; or ascend Some eminence, Augusta, in thy plains, And see the country far-diffus'd around, One boundless blush, one white-empurpled show'r Of mingled blossoms; where the raptured eye110 Hurries from joy to joy, and, hid beneath The fair profusion, yellow Autumn spies.
If brush'd from Russian wilds, a cutting gale Rise not, and scatter from his humid wings The clammy mildew; or dry-blowing, breathe115 Untimely frost; before whose baleful blast The full-blown Spring thro' all her foliage shrinks, Joyless and dead, a wide-dejected waste.
For oft, engender'd by the hazy North, Myriads on myriads, insect armies warp120 Keen in the poison'd breeze; and wasteful eat, Thro' buds and bark, into the blacken'd core, Their eager way. A feeble race! yet oft The sacred sons of vengeance, on whose course Corrosive famine waits, and kills the year.125 To check this plague the skilful farmer chaff, And blazing straw, before his orchard burns; Till, all involv'd in smoke, the latent foe From every cranny suffocated falls: Or scatters o'er the blooms the pungent dust130 Of pepper, fatal to the frosty tribe: Or, when th' envenom'd leaf begins to curl, With sprinkled water drowns them in their nest: Nor, while they pick them up with busy bill, The little trooping birds unwisely scares.135
Be patient, swains; these cruel-seeming winds Blow not in vain. Far hence they keep, repress'd, Those deep'ning clouds on clouds, surcharg'd with rain, That o'er the vast Atlantic hither borne, In endless train, would quench the summer blaze,140 And, chearless, drown de crude unripen'd year.
The north-east spends his rage; and now, shut up Within his iron caves, th' effusive south Warms the wide air, and o'er the void of heaven Breathes the big clouds with vernal showrs distent.145 At first a dusky wreath they seem to rise, Scarce staining ether; but by swift degrees, In heaps on heaps, the doubling vapour sails Along the loaded sky, and mingling deep Sits on th' horizon round a settled gloom:150 Not such as wintry-storms on mortals shed,
Oppressing life; but lovely, gentle, kind, And full of every hope and every joy, The wish of nature. Gradual, sinks the breeze, Into a perfect calm; that not a breath155 Is heard to quiver thro' the closing woods, Or rustling turn the many-twinkling-leaves Of aspin tall. Th' uncurling floods, diffus'd In glassy breadth, seem thro' delusive lapse Forgetful of their course. 'Tis silence all,160 And pleasing expectation. Herds and flocks Drop the dry sprig, and mute-imploring eye The falling verdure. Hush'd in short suspense, The plumy people streak their wings with oil, To throw the lucid moisture trickling off;165 And wait th' approaching sign to strike at once, Into the general choir. Ev'n mountains, vales, And forests seem, impatient, to demand The promis'd sweetness. Man superior walks Amid the glad creation, musing praise,170 And looking lively gratitude. At last, The clouds consign their treasures to the fields; And, softly shaking on the dimpled pool Prelusive drops, let all their moisture flow, In large effusion, o'er the freshen'd world.175 The stealing show'r is scarce to patter heard, 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,180 And fruits and flow'rs, on Nature's ample lap? Swift fancy fir'd anticipates their growth; And, while the verdant nutriment distills, Beholds the kindling country colour round.
Thus all day long the full-distended clouds185 Indulge their genial stores, and well-shower'd earth Is deep enrich'd with vegetable life; Till, in the western sky, the downward sun Looks out, effulgent, from amid the flush Of broken clouds, gay-shifting to his beam.190 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, In twinkling myriads lights the dewy gems.195 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, the distant bleatings of the hills, And hollow lows responsive from the vales,200 Whence blending all the sweeten'd zephyr springs. Meantime refracted from yon eastern cloud, Bestriding earth, the grand ethereal bow Shoots up immense; and every hue unfolds, In fair proportion running from the red,205 To where the violet fades into the sky. Here, awful Newton, the dissolving clouds Form, fronting on the sun, thy showery prism; And to the sage-instructed eye unfold The various twine of light, by thee disclos'd210 From the white mingling maze. Not so the boy: He wond'ring views the bright enchantment bend, Delightful, o'er the radiant fields, and runs To catch the falling glory; but amaz'd Beholds th' amusive arch before him fly,215 Then vanish quite away. Still night succeeds, A softened shade, and saturated earth Awaits the morning-beam to give to light,
Rais'd thro' ten thousand different plastic tubes, The balmy treasures of the former day.220
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 dale In silent search; or thro' the forest, rank225 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 flung Their seeds abroad, blown them about in winds,230 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 stores Of health, and life, and joy? The food of man,235 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; The Lord, and not the tyrant, of the world.240
The glad morning wak'd the gladden'd race Of uncorrupted man, nor blush'd to see The sluggard sleep beneath her sacred beam: For their light slumbers gently fum'd away; And up they rose as vigorous as the sun,245 Or to the culture of the willing glebe, Or to the chearful tendance of the flock. Meantime the song went round; and dance, and sport, Wisdom and friendly talk, successive, stole Their hours away: while in the rosy vale250
Love breath'd his infant sighs, from anguish free, And full replete with bliss, save the sweet pain, That, inly thrilling, but exalts it more. Nor yet injurious act, nor surly deed, Was known among those happy sons of heaven;255 For reason and benevolence were law. Harmonious Nature too look'd smiling on. Clear shone the skies, cool'd with eternal gales, And balmy spirit all. The youthful sun Shot his best rays; and still the gracious clouds260 Drop'd fatness down; as o'er the swelling mead, The herds and flocks, commixing, play'd secure. This when, emergent from the gloomy wood, The glaring lion saw, his horrid heart Was meeken'd, and he join'd his sullen joy.265 For music 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 those prime of days.270
But now those white unblemish’d manners, whence The fabling poets took their golden age, Are found no more amid these iron times, These dregs of life! Now the distemper'd mind Has lost that concord of harmonious powers,275 Which forms the soul of happiness; and all Is off the poise within: the passions all Have burst their bounds; and reason half extinct, Or impotent, or else approving, sees The foul disorder. Senseless and deform’d280 Convulsive anger storms at large; or pale, And silent, fettles into fell revenge. Base envy withers at another’s joy, And hates that excellence it cannot reach.
Desponding fear, of feeble fancies full, 285 Weak and unmanly, loosens every power. Even love itself is bitterness of soul, A pensive anguish pining at the heart; Or, sunk to sordid interest, feels no more That noble wish, that never cloy'd-desire, 290 Which, selfish joy disdaining, seeks alone To bless the dearer object of its flame. Hope sickens with extravagance; and grief, Of life impatient, into madness swells; Or in dead silence wastes the weeping hours. 295 These, and a thousand mix'd emotions more, From ever-changing views of good and ill, Form'd infinitely various, vex the mind With endless storms: whence, deeply rankling, grows The partial thought, a listless unconcern, 300 Cold, and averting from our neigbour's good; Then dark disgust, and hatred, winding wiles, Coward deceit, and ruffian violence: At last, extinct each social feeling, fell And joyless inhumanity pervades 305 And petrifies the heart. Nature disturb'd Is deem'd, vindictive, to have chang'd her course.
Hence in old dusky time, a deluge came: When the deep-cleft disparting orb, that arch'd The central waters round, impetuous rush'd, 310 With universal burst, into the gulph, And o'er te high-pil'd hills of fractur'd earth Wide dash'd the waves, in undulation vast; Till, from the center to the streaming clouds, A shoreless ocean tumbled round the globe. 315
The Seasons since have, with severer sway, Oppress'd a broken world: the Winter keen
Shook forth his waste of snows; and Summer shot His pestilential heats. Great Spring, before, Green'd all the year: and fruits and blossoms blush'd,320 In social sweetness, on the self-same bough. Pure 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; 325 Sound slept the waters; no sulphureous glooms Swell'd in the sky, and sent the lightening forth; While sickly damps, and cold autumnal fogs, Hung not, relaxing, on the springs of life. But now, of turbid elements the sport, 330 From clear to cloudy tost, from hot to cold, And dry to moist, with inward-eating change, Our drooping days are dwindled down to nought, Their period finish'd ere 'tis well begun.
And yet the wholesome herb neglected dies;335 Though with the pure exhilarating soul Of nutriment and health, and vital powers, Beyond the search of art; 'tis copious blest. For, with hot ravine fir'd, insanguin'd Man Is now become the lion of the plain,340 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, E'er plow'd for him. They too are temper'd high, 345 With hunger stung and wild necessity, Nor lodges pity in their shaggy breast. But Man, whom nature form'd of milder clay, With every kind emotion in his heart, And taught alone to weep; while from her lap350
She pours ten thousand delicacies, herbs, And fruits, as numerous as the drops of rain, Or 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,355 And dip his tongue in gore? The beast of prey, Blood-stain'd, deserves to bleed; but you, ye flocks What have you done; ye peaceful people, what, To merit death? you, who have given us milk In luscious streams, and lent us your own coat360 Against the winter's cold? And the plain ox, That harmless, honest, guileless animal, In what has he offended? he whose toil, Patient and ever-ready, clothes the land With all the pomp of harvest? shall he bleed,365 And struggling groan beneath the cruel hands Even of the clown he feeds? and that, perhaps, To swell the riot of th' autumnal feast Won by his labour? Thus the feeling heart Would tenderly suggest: but 'tis enough,370 In this late age, adventurous, to have touch'd Light on the numbers of the Samian sage. High Heaven forbids the bold presumptuous strain, Whose wisest will has fix'd us in a state That must not yet to pure perfection rise.375
Now when the first soul torrent of the brooks, Swell'd with the vernal rains, is ebb'd away; And, whitening, down their mossy tinctur'd stream Descends the billowy foam: now is the time While yet the dark brown water aids the guile,380 To tempt the trout. The well-dissembled fly, The rod fine-tapering with elastic spring, Snatch'd, from the hoary steed the floating line,
And all thy slender watry stores prepare. But let not on thy hook the tortur'd worm,385 Convulsive, twist in agonizing folds; Which, by rapacious hunger swallow'd deep, Gives, as you tear it from the bleeding breast Of the weak helpless uncomplaining wretch, Harsh pain and horror to the tender hand. 390
When with his lively ray the potent sun Has pierc'd the streams, and rouz'd the finny race, Then, issuing chearful, to thy sport repair; Chief should the western breezes curling play, And light o'er ether bear the shadowy clouds.395 High to their fount, this day, amid the hills, And woodlands warbling round, trace up the brooks: The next, pursue their rocky-channel'd maze, Down to the river, in whose ample wave, Their little naiads love to sport at large.400 Just in the dubious point, where with the pool Is mix'd the trembling stream, or where it boils Around the stone, or from the hollow'd bank Reverted plays in undulating flow, There throw, nice-judging, the delusive fly;405 And as you lead it round in artful curve, With eye attentive mark the springing game. Strait as above the surface of the flood They wanton rise, or urg'd by hunger leap, Then fix, with gentle twitch, the barbed hook:410 Some lightly toiling to the grassy bank, And to the shelving shore slow-dragging some, With various hand proportion'd to their force. If yet too young, and easily deceiv'd, A worthless prey scarce bends your pliant rod,415 Him, piteous of his youth and the short space
He has enjoy'd the vital light of Heaven, Soft disengage, and back into the stream The speckled captive throw. But should you lure From his dark haunt, beneath the tangled roots 420 Of pendant trees, the monarch of the brook, Behoves you then to ply your finest art. Long time he, following cautious, scans the fly; And oft attempts to seize it, but as oft The dimpled water speaks his jealous fear. 425 At last, while haply o'er the shaded sun Passes a cloud, he desperate takes the death, With sudden plunge. At once he darts along, Deep struck, and runs out all the lengthen'd line. Then seeks the farthest ooze, the sheltering weed, 430 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 still, yet to his furious course Gives way, you, now retiring, following now 435 Across the stream, exhaust his idle rage: Till floating broad upon his breathless side, And to his fate abandon'd, to the shore You gaily drag your unresisting prize.
Thus pass the temperate hours: but when the sun 440 Shakes from his noon-day throne the scatt'ring clouds, Even shooting listless languor thro' the deeps; Then seek the bank where flowering elders croud, Where scatter'd wide the lily of the vale Its balmy essence breathes, where cowslips 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 steep; whence, borne on liquid wing,
The sounding culver shoots; or where the hawk, 450 High, in the beetling cliff, his airy builds. There let the classic page thy fancy lead Thro' rural scenes; such as the Mantuan swain Paints in the matchless harmony of song. Or catch thyself the landskip, gliding swift 455 Athwart imagination's vivid eye: Or by the vocal woods and waters lull'd, And lost in lonely musing, in the dream, Confus'd, of careless solitude, where mix Ten thousand wandering images of things, 460 Soothe every gust of passion 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 it's gay creation, hues like her's? Or can it mix them with that matchless skill, And lose them in each other, as appears In every bud that blows? If fancy then 470 Unequal fails beneath the pleasing 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, those aromatic gales, 475 That 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: And thou, Amanda, come, pride of my song! 480 Form'd by the Graces, loveliness itself! Come with those downcast eyes, sedate and sweet,
Those looks demure, that deeply pierce the soul. Where, with the light of thoughtful reason mix'd, Shines lively fancy and the feeling heart:485 Oh come! and while the rosy-footed May Steals blushing on, together let ns tread The morning-dews, and gather in their prime Fresh-blooming flowers, to grace thy braided hair, And thy lov'd bosom, that improves their sweets. 490
See, where the winding vale its lavish stores, Irriguous, spreads. See, how the lilly drinks The latent rill, scarce oozing thro' the grass, Of growth luxuriant; or the humid bank, In fair profusion, decks. Long let us walk, 495 Where the breeze blows from yon extended field Of blossom'd beans. Arabia cannot boast A fuller gale of joy, than liberal, thence Breathes thro' the sense, and takes the ravish'd soul. 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, she spreads Unbounded beauty to the roving eye. Here their delicious task the fervent bees,505 In swarming millions, tend. Around, athwart, Thro' the soft air, the busy nations fly, Cling to the bud, and, with inserted tube. Suck its pure essence, it's etherial soul: And oft, with bolder wing, they soaring 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 It's vistas opens, and its alleys green. Snatch'd thro' the verdant maze, the hurried eye 515
Distracted wanders; now the bowery walk Of covert close, where scarce a speck of day Falls on the lengthen'd gloom, protracted sweeps: Now meets the bending sky, the river now Dimpling along, the breezy-ruffled lake,520 The forest darkening round, the glittering spire, Th' etherial mountain, and the distant main. But why so far excursive? when at hand, Along the blushing borders, bright with dew, And in yon mingled wilderness of flowers,525 Fair-handed Spring unbosoms every grace; Throws out the snow-drop, and the crocus first; The daisy, primrose, violet darkly blue, And polyanthus of unnumber'd dyes; The yellow wall-flower, stain'd with iron brown;530 And lavish stock that scents the garden round. From the soft wing of vernal breezes shed, Anemonies; auriculas, enrich'd With shining 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 florist marks,540 With secret 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 purest virgin white, Low-bent, and blushing inward; nor jonquils545 Of potent fragrance; nor Narcissus fair, As o'er the fabled fountain hanging still; Nor broad carnations; nor gay-spotted pinks; Nor, shower'd from every bush, the damask-rose.
Infinite numbers, delicacies, smells, 550 With hues on hues expression cannot paint, The breath of Nature, and her endless bloom.
Hail, Source of Being! Universal Soul Of heaven and earth! Essential Presence, hail! To Thee I bend the knee; to Thee my thoughts, 555 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, Draw the live ether, and imbibe the dew: 560 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 awakes The torpid sap, detruded to the root565 By wintry winds, that now in fluent dance, And lively fermentation, mounting, spreads All this innumerous-colour'd scene of things.
As rising from the vegetable world My theme ascends, with equal wing ascend 570 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 melody Into my varied verse! while I deduce575 From the first note the hollow cuckoo sings, The symphony of Spring, and touch a theme Unknown to fame, the passions of the groves.
When first the soul of love is sent abroad, Warm thro' the vital air, and on the heart580 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 grows The soft infusion prevalent, and wide, 585 Than, all alive, at once their joy o'erflows In music unconfin'd. Up-springs the lark, Shrill-voic'd, and loud, the messenger of morn; Ere yet the shadows fly, he mounted sings Amid the dawning clouds, and from their haunts 590 Calls up the tuneful nations. Every copse Deep-tangled, and tree irregular, and bush Bending with dewy moisture, o'er the heads Of the coy quiristers that lodge within, Are prodigal of harmony. The thrush 595 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 thought Elate, to make her night excel their day. 600 The black-bird whittles from the thorny brake; The mellow bullfinch answers from the grove: Nor are the linnets, o'er the flowering furze Pour'd out profusely, silent. Join'd to these Innumerous songsters, in the freshening shade 605 Of new-sprung leaves, their modulations mix Mellifluous. The jay, the rook, the daw, And each harsh pipe discordant heard alone, Aid the full concert: while the stock-dove breathes A melancholy murmur thro' the whole. 610
'Tis love creates their melody, and all This waste of music is the voice of love; That even to birds, and beasts, the tender Arts Of pleasing teaches. Hence the glossy kind
Try every winning way inventive love 615 Can dictate, and in courtship to their mates Pour forth their little souls. First, wide around, With distant awe, in airy rings they rove, Endeavouring by a thousand tricks to catch The cunning, conscious, half-averted glance620 Of their regardless charmer. Should she seem Softening the least approvance to bestow, Their colours burnish, and by hope inspir'd, They brisk advance; then, on a sudden struck, Retire disorder'd; then again approach;625 In fond rotation spread the spotted wing, And shiver every feather with desire.
Connubial leagues agreed, to the deep woods They haste away, all as their fancy leads, Pleasure, or food, or secret safety prompts; 630 That Nature's great command may be obey'd, Nor all the sweet sensations they perceive Indulg'd in vain. Some to the holly-hedge Nestling repair, and to the thicket some; Some to the rude protection of the thorn635 Commit their feeble offspring: the cleft tree Offers its kind concealment to a few, Their food its insects, and its moss their nests. Others apart far in the grassy dale, Or roughening waste, their humble texture weave.640 But moft in woodland solitudes delight, In unfrequented glooms, or shaggy banks, Steep, and divided by a babbling brook, Whose murmurs soothe them all the live-long day, When by kind duty fix'd. Among the roots 645 Of hazel, pendant o'er the plaintive stream, They frame the first foundation of their domes;
Dry sprigs of trees, in artful fabric laid, And bound with clay together. Now 'tis nought But restless hurry thro' the busy air, 650 Beat by unnumber'd wings. The swallow sweeps The slimy pool, to build his hanging house Intent. And often, from the careless back Of herds and flocks, a thousand tugging bills Pluck hair, and wool; and oft, when unobserv'd, 655 Steal from the barn a straw: till soft and warm, Clean, and compleat, their habitation grows.
As thus the patient dam assiduous fits, Not to be tempted from her tender task, Or by sharp hunger, or by smooth delight, 660 Tho' the whole loosen'd Spring around her blows, Her sympathizing lover takes his stand High on th' opponent bank, and ceaseless sings The tedious time away; or else supplies Her place a moment, while she sudden flits 665 To pick the scanty meal. Th* appointed time With pious toil fulfill'd, the callow young, Warm'd and expanded into perfect life, Their brittle bondage break, and come to light, A helpless family, demanding food 670 With constant clamour. O what passions then, What melting sentiments of kindly care, On the new parents seize! away they fly Affectionate, and undesiring bear The most delicious morsel to their young; 675 Which equally distributed, again The search begins. Even so a gentle pair, By fortune sunk, but form'd of generous mold, And charm'd with cares beyond the vulgar breast, In some lone cott amid the distant woods,680
Sustain'd alone by providential Heaven, Oft, as they weeping eye their infant train, Check their own appetites and give them all.
Nor toil alone they scorn: exalting love, By the great Father of the Spring inspir'd, 685 Gives instant courage to the fearful race, And to the simple, art. With stealthy wing, Should some rude foot their woody haunts molest, Amid a neighbouring bush they silent drop, And whirring thence, as if alarm'd, deceive 690 Th'unfeeling school-boy. Hence, around the head Of wandering swain, the white-wing'd plover wheels Her founding flight, and then directly on In long excursion skims the level lawn, To tempt him from her nest. The wild-duck, hence 695 O'er the rough moss, and o'er the trackless waste The heath-hen flutters, pious fraud! to lead The hot pursuing spaniel far astray.
Be not the Muse asham'd, here to bemoan Her brothers of the grove, by tyrant man 700 Inhuman caught, and in the narrow cage From liberty confin'd, and boundless air. Dull are the pretty slaves, their plumage dull. Ragged, and all its brightening lustre lost; Nor is that sprightly wildness in their notes 705 Which, clear and vigorous, warbles from the beech. Oh then, ye friends of love and love-taught song, Spare the soft tribes, this barbarous art forbear! If on your bosom innocence can win, Music engage, or piety persuade, 710
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, Th' astonish'd mother finds a vacant nest,715 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; Where, all abandon'd to despair, she sings720 Her sorrows thro' the night; and on the bough Sole-sitting, still at every dying fall Takes up again her lamentable strain Of winding woe; till wide around, the woods Sigh to her song, and with her wail resound.725
But now the feather'd youth their former bounds, Ardent, disdain; and, weighing oft their wings, Demand the free possession of the sky; This one glad office more, and then dissolves Parental love at once, now needless grown.730 Unlavish Wisdom never works in vain. 'Tis on some evening, funny, grateful, mild, When nought but balm is breathing thro' the woods, With yellow lustre bright, that the new tribes Visit the spacious heavens, and look abroad735 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, In loose libration stretch'd, to trust the void740 Trembling refuse: till down before them fly The parent-guides, and chide, exhort, command, Or push them off. The surging air receives Its plumy burden; and their self-taught wings Winnow the waving element. On ground745
Alighted, bolder up again they lead, Farther and farther on, the lenghtning flight; Till vanish'd every fear, and every power Rouz'd into life and action, light in air Th' acquitted parents see their soaring race, 750 And once rejoicing never know them more.
High from the summit of a craggy cliff, Hung o'er the deep, such as amazing frowns On utmost:Kilda's shore, whose lonely race Resign the setting sun to Indian worlds, 755 The royal eagle draws his vigorous young, Strong-pounc'd, and ardent with paternal fire. Now fit to raise a kingdom of their own, He drives them from his fort, the towering seat, For ages, of his empire; which, in peace, 760 Unstain'd he holds, while many a league to sea He wings his course, and preys in distant isles.
Should I my steps turn to the rural seat, Whose lofty elms, and venerable oaks, Invite the rook, who high amid the boughs 765 In early Spring, his airy city builds, And ceaseless caws amusive; there, well-pleas'd, I might the various polity survey Of the mix'd houshold-kind. The careful hen Calls all her chirping family around, 770 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, Rows garrulous. The stately-sailing swan 10 Gives out his snowy plumage to the gale; And, arching proud his neck, with oary feet
Bears forward fierce, and guards his osier-isle, Protective of his young. The turkey nigh, Loud-threatning, reddens; while the peacock spreads 780 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 rolls The glancing eye, and turns the changeful neck.785
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 veins The bull, deep-scorch'd, the raging passion feels.790 Of pasture sick, and negligent of food, Scarce seen, he wades among the yellow broom, While o'er his ample sides the rambling sprays Luxuriant shoot; or thro' the mazy wood Dejected wanders, nor th' inticing bud 795 Crops, the' it presses on his careless sense. And oft, in jealous madning fancy wrapt, He seeks the sight; and, idly-butting, feigns His rival gor'd in every knotty trunk. Him should he meet, the bellowing war begins; 800 Their eyes flash fury; to the hollow'd earth, Whence the sand flies, they mutter bloody deeds, And groaning deep, th' impetuous battle mix: While the fair heifer, balmy-breathing, near, Stands kindling up their rage. The trembling steed, 805 With this hot impulse seiz'd in every nerve, Nor hears the rein, nor heeds the sounding thong; Blows are not felt; but tossing high his head, And by the well known joy to distant plains Attracted strong, all wild he bursts away;810
O'er rocks, and woods, and craggy mountains flies;
And, neighing, on the aërial summit takes
Th' exciting gale; then, steep-descending, cleaves
The headlong torrents foaming down the hills,
Even where the madness of the straiten'd stream 815
Turns in black eddies round: such is the force
With which his frantic heart and sinews swell.
Nor undelighted, by the boundless spring,
Are the broad monsters of the foaming deep:
From the deep ooze, and gelid cavern rous'd,820
They flounce and tumble in unwieldy joy.
Dire were the strain, and dissonant, to sing
The cruel raptures of the savage kind:
How by this flame their native wrath sublim'd, They roam, amid the fury of their heart, 825
The far-resounding waste in fiercer bands,
And growl their horrid loves. But this the theme
I sing, enraptur'd, to the British Fair,
Forbids, and leads me to the mountain-brow,
Where fits the shepherd on the grassy turf, 830
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 frolicks play. And now the sprightly race835
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, 840
Lost in eternal broil: ere yet she grew
To this deep-laid indissoluble state,
Where Wealth and Commerce lift their golden heads;
And, o'er our labours, Liberty and Law, Impartial, watch, the wonder of a world!845
What is this mighty Breath, ye sages, say, That, in a powerful language, felt not heard, Instructs the fowls of heaven; and thro' their breast These arts of love diffuses? What, but God? Inspiring God! who boundless Spirit all,850 And unremitting 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 stupendous scheme of things.855 But, tho' conceal'd, to every purer eye Th' informing Author in his works appears: Chief, lovely Spring, in thee, and thy soft scenes The Smiling God is seen, while water, earth, And air attest his bounty; which exalts860 The brute-creation to this finer 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;865 When heaven and earth, as if contending, vye To raise his being, and serene his soul. Can he forbear to join the general smile Of Nature? Can fierce passions vex his breast, While every gale is peace, and every grove870 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! But come, ye generous minds, in whose wide thought875 Of all his works, Creative Bounty burns
With warmest beam; and on your open front, And liberal eye, fits, from his dark retreat Inviting modest want. Nor, till invok'd Can restless goodness wait; your active search880 Leaves no cold wintry corner unexplor'd; Like silent-working Heaven, surprising oft The lonely heart with unexpected good. For you the roving spirit of the wind Blows Spring abroad; for you the teeming clouds885 Descend in gladsome plenty o'er the world; And the sun sheds his kindest rays for you, Ye flower of human race!—In these green days, Reviving sickness lifts her languid head; Life flows afresh; and young-ey'd Health exalts890 The whole creation round. Contentment walks The funny 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.895 By swift degrees the love of nature works, And warms the bosom; till at last sublim'd To rapture, and enthusiastic heat, We feel the present Deity, and taste The joy of God to see a happy world!900
These are the sacred feelings of thy heart, Thy heart inform'd by reason's purer ray, O Lyttelton, the friend! thy passions thus And meditations vary, as at large, Courting the Muse, thro' Hagley-Park thou strayest,905 Thy British Tempe! There along the dale, With Woods o'er-hung, and shag'd with mossy rocks, Whence on each hand the gushing waters play, And down the rough cascade white-dashing fall,
Or gleam in lengthen'd vista thro' the trees, 910 You silent steal; or sit beneath the shade Of solemn oaks, that tuft the swelling mounts Thrown graceful round by Nature's careless hand, And pensive listen to the various voice Of rural peace: the herds, the flocks, the birds, 915 The hollow-whispering breeze, the plaint of rills, That, purling down amid the twisted roots Which creep around, their dewy murmurs shake On the sooth'd ear. From these abstracted oft, You wander through the philosophic world; 920 Where in bright train continual wonders rise, Or to the curious or the pious eye. And oft, conducted by historic truth, You tread the long extent of backward time: Planning, with warm benevolence of mind, 925 And honest zeal unwarp'd by party-rage, Britannia's weal; how from the venal gulph To raise her virtue, and her arts revive. Or, turning thence thy view, these graver thoughts The Muses charm: while, with sure taste refin'd, 930 You draw th' inspiring breath of ancient song; Till nobly rises, emulous, thy own. Perhaps thy lov'd Lucinda shares thy walk, With soul to thine attun'd. Then Nature all Wears to the lover's eye a look of love; 935 And all the tumult of a guilty world, Tost by ungenerous passions, sinks away. The tender heart is animated peace; And as it pours its copious treasures forth, In varied converse, softening every theme, 940 You, frequent-pausing, turn, and from her eyes, Where meekened sense, and amiable grace, And lively sweetness dwell, enraptur'd, drink
That nameless spirit of etherial joy, Unutterable happiness! which love, 945 Alone bellows, and on a favour'd few. Meantime you gain the height, from whose fair brow The bursting prospect spreads immense around; And snatch'd o'er hill and dale, and wood and lawn, And verdant field, and darkening heath between,950 And villages embosom'd soft in trees, And spiry towns by surging columns mark'd Of household smoak, your eye excursive roams: Wide-stretching from the Hall, in whose kind haunt The Hospitable Genius lingers still, 955 To where the broken landskip, by degrees, Ascending, roughens into ridgy hills; O'er which the cambrian mountains, like far clouds That skirt the blue horizon, dusky rise.
Flush'd by the spirit of the genial year, 960 Now from the virgin's cheek 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, In brighter flow; her wishing bosom heaves, 965 With palpitations wild; kind tumults seize Her veins, and all her yielding soul is love. From the keen gaze her lover turns away, Full of the dear ecstatic power, and sick With sighing languishment. Ah then, ye fair!970 Be greatly cautious of your sliding hearts: Dare not th' infectious sigh; the pleading look, Down-cast, and low, in meek submission drest, But full of guile. Let not the fervent tongue, Prompt to deceive, with adulation smooth,975 Gain on your purpos'd will. Nor in the bower,
Where woodbinds flaunt, and roses shed a couch, While evening draws her crimson curtains round, Trull your soft minutes with Betraying Man.
And let th' aspiring youth beware of love, 980 Of the smooth glance beware; for 'tis too late, When on his heart the torrent-softness pours. Then Wisdom prostrate lies, and fading fame Dissolves in air away; while the fond soul, Wrapt in gay visions of unreal bliss, 985 Still paints th' illusive form; the kindling grace; Th' inticing smile; the modest-seeming eye, Beneath whose beauteous beams, belying heaven, Lurk searchless cunning, cruelty, and death: And still, false-warbling in his cheated ear, 990 Her syren voice, enchanting, draws him on, To guileful shores, and meads of fatal joy.
Even present, in the very lap of love Inglorious laid; while music flows around, Perfumes, and oils, and wine, and wanton hours; 995 Amid the roses fierce Repentance rears Her snaky crest: a quick-returning pang Shoots thro' the conscious heart; where honour still, And great design, against the oppressive load Of luxury, by fits, impatient heave. 1000
But absent, what fantastic woes, 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, Prone into ruin, fall his scorn'd affairs. 1005 'Tis nought but gloom around: the darken'd sun Loses his light: the rosy-bosom'd Spring To weeping fancy pines; and yon bright arch, Contracted, bends into a dusky vault.
All Nature fades extinct; and she alone 1010 Heard, felt, and seen, possesses every thought, Fills every sense, and pants in every vein. Books are but formal dulness, tedious friends; And sad amid the social band he fits, Lonely, and unattentive. From his tongue 1015 Th' unfinish'd period falls: while borne away On swelling thought, his wafted spirit flies To the vain bosom of his distant fair; And leaves the semblance of a lover, fix'd In melancholy site, with head declin'd, 1020 And love-dejected eyes. Sudden he starts, Shook from his tender trance, and restless runs To glimmering shades, and sympathetic glooms; Where the dun umbrage o'er the falling stream, Romantic, hangs; there thro' the pensive dusk 1025 Strays, in heart-thrilling meditation lost, Indulging all to love: or on the bank Thrown, amid drooping lilies, swells the breeze With sighs unceasing, and the brook with tears, Thus in soft anguish he consumes the day, 1030 Nor quits his deep retirement, till the moon Peeps thro' the chambers of the fleecy east, Enlightened by degrees, and in her train Leads on the gentle hours; then forth he walks, Beneath the trembling languish of her beam, 1035 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, Associates with the midnight shadows drear; And, sighing to the lonely taper, pours 1040 His idly-tortur'd heart into the page, Meant for the moving messenger of love; Where rapture burns on rapture, every line With riling frenzy fir'd. But if on bed
Delirious flung, sleep from his pillow flies.1045 All night he tosses, nor the balmy power In any posture finds; till the grey morn Lifts her pale lustre on the paler wretch, Exanimate by love: and then perhaps Exhausted Nature sinks a while to rest,1050 Still interrupted by distracted dreams, That o'er the sick imagination rise, And in black colours paint the mimic scene. Oft with th' enchantress of his soul he talks; Sometimes in crouds distress'd; or if retir'd1055 To secret-winding flower-enwoven bowers, Far from the dull impertinence of Man, Just as he, credulous, his endless cares Begins to lose in blind oblivious love, Snatch'd from her yielded hand, he knows not how,1060 Thro' forests huge, and long untravel'd heaths With desolation brown, he wanders waste, In night and tempest wrapt; or shrinks aghast, Back, from the bending precipice; or wades The turbid stream below, and strives to reach1065 The farther shore; where succourless, and sad, She with extended arms his aid implores, But strives in vain; borne by th' outrageous flood To distance down, he rides the ridgy wave, Or whelm'd beneath the boiling eddy sinks.1070
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 gall,1075 Corroding every thought, and blasting all Love's paradise. Ye fairy prospects, then, Ye beds of roses, and ye bowers of joy,
Farewel! Ye gleamings of departing peace, Shine out your last! the yellow-tinging plague 1080 Internal vision taints, and in a night Of livid gloom imagination wraps. Ah then; instead of-love enliven'd cheeks, Of funny features, and of ardent eyes With flowing rapture bright, dark looks succeed, 1085 Suffus'd, and glaring with untender fire; A cloudy aspect, and a burning cheek, Where the whole poison'd soul, malignant, sits, And frightens love away. Ten thousand fears Invented wild, ten thousand frantic views 1090 Of horrid rivals, hanging on the charms For which he melts in fondness, eat him up With fervent anguish, and consuming rage. In vain reproaches lend their idle aid, Deceitful pride, and resolution frail, 1095 Giving false peace a moment. Fancy 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, 1100 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, 1105 Thro' flowery-tempting paths, or leads a life Of fever'd rapture, or of cruel care; His brightest flames extinguish'd all, and all His brightest moments running down to waste.
But happy they! the happiest of their kind! 1110 Whom gentler stars unite, and in one fate 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,1115 Attuning all their passions into love; Where friendship full-exerts her softest power, Perfect esteem enliven'd by desire Ineffable, and sympathy of soul; Thought meeting thought, and will preventing will1120 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, 1125 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'd 1130 Of a meer, lifeless, violated form: While those whom love cements in holy faith, And equal transport, free as Nature live, Disdaining fear. What is the world to them, Its pomp, its pleasure, and its nonsense all! 1135 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 1140 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, 1145 The father's lustre, and the mother's bloom. The 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,1150 To pour the fresh instruction o'er the mind, To breathe th' enlivening spirit, and to fix The generous purpose in the glowing breast. Oh speak the joy! ye, whom the sudden tear Surprizes often, while you look around,1155 And nothing strikes your eye but sights of bliss, All various Nature pressing on the heart: An elegant sufficiency, content, Retirement, rural quiet, friendship, books, Ease and alternate labour, useful life,1160 Progressive virtue, and approving Heaven. These are the matchless joys of virtuous love; And thus their moments fly. The seasons thus, As ceaseless round a jarring world they roll, Still find them happy; and consenting Spring1165 Sheds her own rosy garland on their heads: Till evening comes at last, serene and mild; When after the long vernal day of life, Enamour'd more, as more remembrance swells With many a proof of recollected love,1170 Together down they sink in social sleep; Together freed, their gentle spirits fly To scenes where love and bliss immortal reign.