O

TO SPRING.

THOU with dewy locks, who lookest down
Through the clear windows of the morning,

turn

Thine angel eyes upon our western isle,

Which in full choir hails thy approach, O Spring!

The hills tell each other, and the listening
Valleys hear; all our longing eyes are turned
Up to thy bright pavilions: issue forth,
And let thy holy feet visit our clime!

Come o'er the eastern hills, and let our winds
Kiss thy perfumèd garments; let us taste
Thy morn and evening breath; scatter thy pearls
Upon our lovesick land that mourns for thee.

Oh, deck her forth with thy fair fingers; pour
Thy soft kisses on her bosom; and put

Thy golden crown upon her languished head,
Whose modest tresses were bound up for thee!

O

TO SUMMER.

THOU who passest through our valleys in

Thy strength, curb thy fierce steeds, allay

the heat

That flames from their large nostrils!

Summer,

Thou, O

Oft pitchedst here thy golden tent, and oft
Beneath our oaks has slept, while we beheld
With Joy thy ruddy limbs and flourishing hair.

Beneath our thickest shades we oft have heard
Thy voice, when Noon upon his fervid car
Rode o'er the deep of heaven. Beside our springs
Sit down, and in our mossy valleys, on

Some bank beside a river clear, throw thy

Silk draperies off, and rush into the stream!
Our valleys love the Summer in his pride.

Our bards are famed who strike the silver wire :
Our youth are bolder than the southern swains,
Our maidens fairer in the sprightly dance.
We lack not songs, nor instruments of joy,
Nor echoes sweet, nor waters clear as heaven,
Nor laurel wreaths against the sultry heat.

41

TO AUTUMN.

AUTUMN, laden with fruit, and stained

With the blood of the grape, pass not, but sit
Beneath my shady roof, there thou mayst rest,
And tune thy jolly voice to my fresh pipe,

And all the daughters of the year shall dance!
Sing now the lusty song of fruits and flowers.

“The narrow bud opens her beauties to
The sun, and love runs in her thrilling veins;

Blossoms hang round the brows of Morning, and
Flourish down the bright cheek of modest Eve,
Till clustering summer breaks forth into singing,
And feathered clouds strew flowers round her head.

"The Spirits of the Air live on the smells

Of fruit; and Joy, with pinions light, roves round The gardens, or sits singing in the trees."

Thus sang the jolly Autumn as he sat ;

Then rose, girded himself, and o'er the bleak
Hills fled from our sight; but left his golden load.

TO WINTER.

O

WINTER! bar thine adamantine doors:

The north is thine; there hast thou built thy

dark

Deep-founded habitation. Shake not thy roofs,
Nor bend thy pillars with thine iron car.