Poems on different occasions [by Cuthbert Shaw] |
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| [I]. |
| II. |
| III. |
| IV. |
| V. |
| VI. |
| VII. | ODE VII.
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| VIII. |
| IX. |
| X. |
| XI. |
| XII. |
| XIII. |
| XIV. |
| XV. |
| XVI. |
 | Poems on different occasions |  |
71
ODE VII.
[O sweetest of the feathered quire]
O sweetest of the feathered quire,
O, thrush, and blackbird of the wood,
Where will ye now to rest retire,
Where seek ye now your wonted food?
O, thrush, and blackbird of the wood,
Where will ye now to rest retire,
Where seek ye now your wonted food?
Lo how around the wintry snows
Fast from the darken'd sky descend,
With hollow sound the north-wind blows,
While to its blast the tall trees bend.
Fast from the darken'd sky descend,
With hollow sound the north-wind blows,
While to its blast the tall trees bend.
O, hapless birds, in vain the lake
Or stream ye seek with weary wings,
No more the pool your thirst can slake,
The frost has bound the limpid springs.
Or stream ye seek with weary wings,
No more the pool your thirst can slake,
The frost has bound the limpid springs.
72
In vain ye seek the well-known wood,
The well-known field in vain ye try,
The naked woods no shelter yield,
No food the barren fields supply.
The well-known field in vain ye try,
The naked woods no shelter yield,
No food the barren fields supply.
Nor may ye yet of man implore
To save you from the storms awhile:
O, may his gun not wound you sore,
Nor may his net your feet beguile!
To save you from the storms awhile:
O, may his gun not wound you sore,
Nor may his net your feet beguile!
More cruel than the wintry wind,
With levell'd gun and fatal snare,
The tyrant of your gentle kind,
He spares not whom the tempests spare.
With levell'd gun and fatal snare,
The tyrant of your gentle kind,
He spares not whom the tempests spare.
And have ye sung sweet birds so long
Beneath the summer sun in vain,
And will no one requite your song
Which wont so oft to charm the plain?
Beneath the summer sun in vain,
And will no one requite your song
Which wont so oft to charm the plain?
73
Lo in this bower, within these bounds,
Where oft melodious voices swell,
Where oft the tuneful flute resounds,
Lo in this bower the muses dwell.
Where oft melodious voices swell,
Where oft the tuneful flute resounds,
Lo in this bower the muses dwell.
The Muses, gentle maids, bemoan
The sorrows of the feather'd throng,
Whose voices tuneful as their own
Warble untaught the woods among.
The sorrows of the feather'd throng,
Whose voices tuneful as their own
Warble untaught the woods among.
The Muses smile not that the quire
Of birds are barr'd their notes of joy,
Nor will they with the winds conspire
The harmless songsters to annoy.
Of birds are barr'd their notes of joy,
Nor will they with the winds conspire
The harmless songsters to annoy.
O, seek ye then this friendly bower
Which to the Muses still belongs,
Here shall ye prove their sacred power
To save the feather'd race from wrongs.
Which to the Muses still belongs,
Here shall ye prove their sacred power
To save the feather'd race from wrongs.
74
Here from the northern winds that blow
The hill with pine-trees clad defends,
While its soft lap the vale below
Fair to the noon-tide sun extends.
The hill with pine-trees clad defends,
While its soft lap the vale below
Fair to the noon-tide sun extends.
And here the sullen months to chear,
The flowering laurestine will bloom,
The holly shews its berries near
That shine amidst the wintry gloom.
The flowering laurestine will bloom,
The holly shews its berries near
That shine amidst the wintry gloom.
And many a shady walk is found
Where twining laurels form a grove,
Where firs their green tribes scatter round,
And yew with cypress dark is wove.
Where twining laurels form a grove,
Where firs their green tribes scatter round,
And yew with cypress dark is wove.
And where the sheltering groves extend
Due food for hapless birds we fling,
The fruits that red'ning hawthorns lend,
The grain that yellow harvests bring.
Due food for hapless birds we fling,
The fruits that red'ning hawthorns lend,
The grain that yellow harvests bring.
75
O, seek ye then this green retreat,
And thro' these groves of laurel stray,
'Till vernal sons with genial heat
Shall chase the wintry clouds away.
And thro' these groves of laurel stray,
'Till vernal sons with genial heat
Shall chase the wintry clouds away.
Here first the balmy zephyr blows,
And first the woods are clad in green,
Here earliest yellow crocus grows,
And earliest are blue violets seen.
And first the woods are clad in green,
Here earliest yellow crocus grows,
And earliest are blue violets seen.
For him who thus in pious lay
Invites you to the Muses bowers,
O, gentle birds, his care repay,
When spring revives your tuneful powers.
Invites you to the Muses bowers,
O, gentle birds, his care repay,
When spring revives your tuneful powers.
Then when ye breathe these notes along
That melt your mates to soft desire,
O, lend to him a while your song,
O, lend these notes that love inspire.
That melt your mates to soft desire,
O, lend to him a while your song,
O, lend these notes that love inspire.
76
So may his happy numbers move
The tender fair to whom he sings,
So love's soft pleasures may he prove,
Like you, beside the silver springs.
The tender fair to whom he sings,
So love's soft pleasures may he prove,
Like you, beside the silver springs.
| Poems on different occasions | |