The Poems of Robert Fergusson Edited by Matthew P. McDiarmid |
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On the cold Month of April 1771.
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 | The Poems of Robert Fergusson |  |
19
On the cold Month of April 1771.
Oh! who can hold a fire in his hand
By thinking on the frosty Caucasus;
Or cloy the hungry edge of appetite
By bare imagination of a feast;
Or wallow naked in December's snow,
By thinking on fantastic summer's heat.
Shakesp. Rich. II.
By thinking on the frosty Caucasus;
Or cloy the hungry edge of appetite
By bare imagination of a feast;
Or wallow naked in December's snow,
By thinking on fantastic summer's heat.
Shakesp. Rich. II.
Poets in vain have hail'd the op'ning spring,
In tender accents woo'd the blooming maid;
In vain have taught the April birds to wing
Their flight thro' fields in verdant hue array'd.
In tender accents woo'd the blooming maid;
In vain have taught the April birds to wing
Their flight thro' fields in verdant hue array'd.
The muse in ev'ry season taught to sing
Amidst the desart snows by fancy's powers,
Can elevated soar, on placid wing,
To climes where spring her kindest influence showers.
Amidst the desart snows by fancy's powers,
Can elevated soar, on placid wing,
To climes where spring her kindest influence showers.
April, once famous for the zephyr mild,
For sweets that early in the garden grow,
Say, how converted to this cheerless wild,
Rushing with torrents of dissolving snow.
For sweets that early in the garden grow,
Say, how converted to this cheerless wild,
Rushing with torrents of dissolving snow.
Nurs'd by the moisture of a gentle shower,
Thy foliage oft hath sounded to the breeze;
Oft did thy choristers melodious pour
Their melting numbers thro' the shady trees.
Thy foliage oft hath sounded to the breeze;
Oft did thy choristers melodious pour
Their melting numbers thro' the shady trees.
Fair have I seen thy morn, in smiles array'd,
With crimson blush bepaint the eastern sky;
But now the dawn creeps mournful o'er the glade,
Shrowded in colours of a sable dye.
With crimson blush bepaint the eastern sky;
But now the dawn creeps mournful o'er the glade,
Shrowded in colours of a sable dye.
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So have I seen the fair with laughing eye,
And visage cheerful as the smiling morn,
Alternate changing for the heaving sigh,
Or frowning aspect of contemptuous scorn.
And visage cheerful as the smiling morn,
Alternate changing for the heaving sigh,
Or frowning aspect of contemptuous scorn.
Life! What art thou? a variegated scene
Of mingl'd light and shade, of joy and woe;
A sea where calms and storms promiscuous reign,
A stream where sweet and bitter jointly flow.
Of mingl'd light and shade, of joy and woe;
A sea where calms and storms promiscuous reign,
A stream where sweet and bitter jointly flow.
Mute are the plains; the shepherd pipes no more;
The reed's forsaken, and the tender flock,
While echo, listening to the tempest's roar,
In silence wanders o'er the beetling rock.
The reed's forsaken, and the tender flock,
While echo, listening to the tempest's roar,
In silence wanders o'er the beetling rock.
Winter, too potent for the solar ray,
Bestrides the blast, ascends his icy throne,
And views Britannia, subject to his sway,
Floating emergent on the frigid zone.
Bestrides the blast, ascends his icy throne,
And views Britannia, subject to his sway,
Floating emergent on the frigid zone.
Thou savage tyrant of the fretful sky!
Wilt thou for ever in our zenith reign?
To Greenland's seas, congeal'd in chillness, fly.
Where howling monsters tread the bleak domain.
Wilt thou for ever in our zenith reign?
To Greenland's seas, congeal'd in chillness, fly.
Where howling monsters tread the bleak domain.
Relent, O Boreas! leave thy frozen cell;
Resign to spring her portion of the year;
Let west winds temp'rate wave the flowing gale,
And hills, and vales, and woods a vernal aspect wear.
Resign to spring her portion of the year;
Let west winds temp'rate wave the flowing gale,
And hills, and vales, and woods a vernal aspect wear.
| The Poems of Robert Fergusson | |