Conversations introducing poetry :: :: University of Virginia Library

For Nature waits upon thee still,
And thy verdant cup doth fill.
All the fields which thou dost see,
All the plants belong to thee;
All that Summer suns produce
Are, blest insect! for thy use:
While thy feast doth not destroy
The verdure thou dost thus enjoy,
But the blythe shepherd haileth thee,
Singing as musical as he;
And peasants love thy voice to hear,
Prophet of the ripening year.
To thee of all things upon earth,
Life is no longer than thy mirth.
Insect truly blest! for thou
Dost neither age nor winter know;
But, when thou hast danc'd and sung
Thy fill, the flowers and leaves among,
Sated with thy Summer feast
Thou retir'st to endless rest.

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THE SQUIRREL.

The Squirrel, with aspiring mind,
Disdains to be to earth confin'd,
But mounts aloft in air:
The pine-tree's giddiest height he climbs,
Or scales the beech-tree's loftiest limbs,
And builds his castle there.

As Nature's wildest tenants free,
A merry forester is he,
In oak o'ershadow'd dells,
Or glen remote, or woodland lawn,
Where the doe hides her infant fawn,
Among the birds he dwells.

Within some old fantastic tree,
Where time has worn a cavity,
His winter food is stor'd:

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The cone beset with many a scale,
The chesnut in its coat of mail,
Or nuts complete his hoard.

And of wise prescience thus possess'd,
He near it rears his airy nest,
With twigs and moss entwin'd,
And gives its roof a conic form,
Where safely shelter'd from the storm
He braves the rain and wind.

Though plumeless, he can dart away,
Swift as the woodpecker or jay,
His sportive mate to woo:
His Summer food is berries wild,
And last year's acorn cups are fill'd
For him with sparkling dew.

Soft is his shining auburn coat,
As ermine white his downy throat,
Intelligent his mien;
With feathery tail and ears alert,
And little paws as hands expert,
And eyes so black and keen.

Soaring above the earth-born herd
Of beasts, he emulates the bird,
Yet feels no want of wings:
Exactly pois'd, he dares to launch
In air, and bounds from branch to branch
With swift elastic springs.

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And thus the Man of mental worth
May rise above the humblest birth,
And adverse Fate control;
If to the upright heart be join'd
The active persevering mind,
And firm unshaken Soul.

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THE GLOW-WORM.

Bright insect! that on humid leaves and grass
Lights up thy fairy lamp; as if to guide
The steps of labouring swains that homeward pass,
Well pleas'd to see thee chear the pathway side,
Betokening cloudless skies and pleasant days;
While he whom evening's sober charms invite
In shady woodlanes, often stops to gaze,
And moralizing hails thy emerald light!
On the fair tresses of the roseate morn,
Translucent dews, as precious gems appear,

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Not less dost thou the night's dark hour adorn,
“Like a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear.”
Though the rude bramble, or the fan-like ferns,
Around thee their o'ershadowing branches spread,
Steady and clear thy phosphor brilliance burns,
And thy soft rays illuminate the shade.
Thus the calm brightness of superior minds
Makes them amid misfortune's shadow blest,
And thus the radiant spark of Genius shines,
Though skreen'd by Envy, or by Pride oppress'd.