 | The British Months |  |
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FEBRUARY.
Dark calm weather in February. Interchange of storms and sunshine. Frost succeeded by sunny days
There is at times a solemn gloom,
Ere yet the lovely Spring assume
Sole empire, with the lingering cold
Content divided sway to hold;
A sort of interreign, which throws
On all around a dull repose,
Dull, not unpleasing: when the rest
Nor rain, nor snow, nor winds molest;
Nor aught by listening ear is heard,
Save first-fruit notes of vernal bird,
Alone, or with responsive call,
Or sound of tinkling waterfall.
Yet is no radiant brightness seen
To pierce the clouds' opposing skreen,
Or hazy vapour; and illume
The thickness of that solemn gloom.
Ere yet the lovely Spring assume
Sole empire, with the lingering cold
Content divided sway to hold;
A sort of interreign, which throws
On all around a dull repose,
Dull, not unpleasing: when the rest
Nor rain, nor snow, nor winds molest;
Nor aught by listening ear is heard,
Save first-fruit notes of vernal bird,
Alone, or with responsive call,
Or sound of tinkling waterfall.
Yet is no radiant brightness seen
To pierce the clouds' opposing skreen,
Or hazy vapour; and illume
The thickness of that solemn gloom.
Such is the garb, his natal morn
Oft times by February worn:
And such the garment that arrays
Full often his succeeding days.
Oft times by February worn:
And such the garment that arrays
Full often his succeeding days.
Not but the wind will sometimes wake
From slumber, and tumultuous shake
The season's stillness, and deform
Its face with rain or sleety storm
Severe, ungenial: not but oft
From his meridian throne aloft
The sun with radiant face will smile
Of cloudless lustre; or awhile
Through clouds, in part dismember'd, show
A transient glance, and partial throw
Bright lights, with many a mingled mass
Of dark broad shade, o'er yon smooth glass
Of brimming waves, yon mountain's breast,
And this fair landscape; or invest
The cloudy pile with golden gleams,
As rolling, wreath on wreath, it seems
Like that white Mount, which soaring high
O'er the brown rocks of Meillery,
And thy blue lake, Geneva, shows
His crown of everlasting snows.
From slumber, and tumultuous shake
The season's stillness, and deform
Its face with rain or sleety storm
Severe, ungenial: not but oft
From his meridian throne aloft
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Of cloudless lustre; or awhile
Through clouds, in part dismember'd, show
A transient glance, and partial throw
Bright lights, with many a mingled mass
Of dark broad shade, o'er yon smooth glass
Of brimming waves, yon mountain's breast,
And this fair landscape; or invest
The cloudy pile with golden gleams,
As rolling, wreath on wreath, it seems
Like that white Mount, which soaring high
O'er the brown rocks of Meillery,
And thy blue lake, Geneva, shows
His crown of everlasting snows.
Oft too, when night has mantled o'er
Lawn, pasture, tilth, with vesture hoar
Of dew-born frostwork; if his beams
Pour round the sky in rosy streams,
Soon is that vesture hoar withdrawn
From pasture, tilth, and level lawn;
And nought remains to tell the tale,
Save where not yet his rays prevail,
White stripes the inclosure's crisped edge
Define; and on the sparkling sedge
By filmy pond, or grassy stem,
Hangs trembling many a liquid gem.
Lawn, pasture, tilth, with vesture hoar
Of dew-born frostwork; if his beams
Pour round the sky in rosy streams,
Soon is that vesture hoar withdrawn
From pasture, tilth, and level lawn;
And nought remains to tell the tale,
Save where not yet his rays prevail,
White stripes the inclosure's crisped edge
Define; and on the sparkling sedge
By filmy pond, or grassy stem,
Hangs trembling many a liquid gem.
Opportunities for more extended excursions. Home, its enjoyments. Local attachment felt generally by animals. Exemplified in the Thrush, Blackbird, and Redbreast
But shine or not the glorious sun,
Mid his bright rays, or thro' the dun
Calm shadow of that solemn gloom,
Tis pleasant to enlarge the room
Of speculation's grateful task:
And, as from nature's face the mask
Is more and more remov'd, the sight
That cover'd of her features bright;
Still more and more from covert free
Of that delightful face to see,
And haply more to rove afield;
But still, by strong attraction held,
With ready step, where'er we roam,
Returning to our pleasant home.
Mid his bright rays, or thro' the dun
Calm shadow of that solemn gloom,
Tis pleasant to enlarge the room
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And, as from nature's face the mask
Is more and more remov'd, the sight
That cover'd of her features bright;
Still more and more from covert free
Of that delightful face to see,
And haply more to rove afield;
But still, by strong attraction held,
With ready step, where'er we roam,
Returning to our pleasant home.
Home! 'Tis a word of magick sound:
Comprising in its ample round
More bliss, than in this state below
Aught else of human can bestow!
Compos'd of innocent delights;
The useful days, the tranquil nights;
The pleasure, from within that flows,
Nor need of strange excitement knows,
Nor with o'er-powering zest annoys,
Nor with o'er-satiate fulness cloys;
The time that flies with downy pace,
So swift, so soft, nor leaves a trace
To mark the stages left behind;
The interchange of mind with mind
In friendliest converse, and the ties
Of the heart's dearest sympathies.
Comprising in its ample round
More bliss, than in this state below
Aught else of human can bestow!
Compos'd of innocent delights;
The useful days, the tranquil nights;
The pleasure, from within that flows,
Nor need of strange excitement knows,
Nor with o'er-powering zest annoys,
Nor with o'er-satiate fulness cloys;
The time that flies with downy pace,
So swift, so soft, nor leaves a trace
To mark the stages left behind;
The interchange of mind with mind
In friendliest converse, and the ties
Of the heart's dearest sympathies.
But lives there not within the heart,
From that more holy love apart
Which knits us to our friends and race,
A sense of fondness for the place,
Where we our bygone days have dwelt?
Is not such sense of fondness felt,
Not by the human kind alone,
But wide o'er living creatures sown?
Nor to domestick flocks and herds
Confin'd, but spreading to the birds,
Which, free as air far-off to rove,
Yet harbour in the place they love?
From that more holy love apart
Which knits us to our friends and race,
A sense of fondness for the place,
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Is not such sense of fondness felt,
Not by the human kind alone,
But wide o'er living creatures sown?
Nor to domestick flocks and herds
Confin'd, but spreading to the birds,
Which, free as air far-off to rove,
Yet harbour in the place they love?
If not, then wherefore do we hear
That Throstle's daily warble clear,
Perch'd on the wonted beechen tree,
As if he ne'er could weary be
Or of his sojourn, or his song?
And why, our daily walk along,
Hear we the whistling Blackbird rush
Forth from the custom'd laurel bush?
Why from that wall or arbute spray
Does Robin sing his daily lay,
Content and anxious to maintain
The limits of his little reign,
Nor fain to share another's throne,
Nor to another yield his own?
That Throstle's daily warble clear,
Perch'd on the wonted beechen tree,
As if he ne'er could weary be
Or of his sojourn, or his song?
And why, our daily walk along,
Hear we the whistling Blackbird rush
Forth from the custom'd laurel bush?
Why from that wall or arbute spray
Does Robin sing his daily lay,
Content and anxious to maintain
The limits of his little reign,
Nor fain to share another's throne,
Nor to another yield his own?
Yes, so it is. Place has a charm
To pleasure them: and as from harm
Exempt, and care, the livelong day
They pass rejoicing, thus they say
To restless spirits, “Wherefore roam
Abroad for pleasure? Seek at home
The lingerer; and with us confess
Home is the abode of happiness!”
To pleasure them: and as from harm
Exempt, and care, the livelong day
They pass rejoicing, thus they say
To restless spirits, “Wherefore roam
Abroad for pleasure? Seek at home
The lingerer; and with us confess
Home is the abode of happiness!”
Approach of pairing time. Connexion of links in nature's chain. Coincidence of the pairing of birds with reviving vegetation. Old fancy concerning St. Valentine's day. Its history uncertain. General notion founded on nature
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Or use, a second nature, taught,
The birds the kindly influence prove
Of place; another mightier love
Awaits them: now the advancing year
Moves onward in its due career
Another step; and swelling buds
Thro' February's fields and woods
Begin, tho' slowly, to expand,
And tell of pairing time at hand.
Strange is the order, and combines
With numberless conspicuous signs,
Proofs of the vast directing mind,
To show what links together bind
The works of nature, and sustain
The whole by one pervading chain.
With numberless conspicuous signs,
Proofs of the vast directing mind,
To show what links together bind
The works of nature, and sustain
The whole by one pervading chain.
'Tis passing wonderful to see
The budding, sprouting, leaf-clad tree.
'Tis passing wonderful to trace
The progress of the feather'd race;
The nest; the egg; at length indued
With life and strength, the full-fledg'd brood.
But doubly wondrous is the thought
Of signs like these together brought,
Each in one chain a separate link:
'Tis doubly wonderful to think,
That the same genial breath, which wakes
To being new the woods and brakes,
Should wake the flame, that lay supprest
And slumbering in the feather'd breast:
That the same hand, the woodland scene
Which mantles with its leafy skreen,
Should for his plum'd creation form
That skreen a shelter close and warm,
And lodge therein reviving food
Exhaustless for the future brood.
The budding, sprouting, leaf-clad tree.
'Tis passing wonderful to trace
The progress of the feather'd race;
The nest; the egg; at length indued
With life and strength, the full-fledg'd brood.
But doubly wondrous is the thought
Of signs like these together brought,
Each in one chain a separate link:
'Tis doubly wonderful to think,
That the same genial breath, which wakes
To being new the woods and brakes,
Should wake the flame, that lay supprest
And slumbering in the feather'd breast:
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Which mantles with its leafy skreen,
Should for his plum'd creation form
That skreen a shelter close and warm,
And lodge therein reviving food
Exhaustless for the future brood.
It was a dream of fancy old,
The dream Dan Chaucer's rhymes have told,
How things that be, of every kind,
In pairs created were, and join'd,
“By even number of accord:”
Whence “Vicar of the Almighty Lord,”
O'erruling Nature gave the sign
Each day of good Saint Valentine,
For every bird, that wings the air,
To choose his make; and every pair
Together then to speed away,
And her controlling laws obey.
The dream Dan Chaucer's rhymes have told,
How things that be, of every kind,
In pairs created were, and join'd,
“By even number of accord:”
Whence “Vicar of the Almighty Lord,”
O'erruling Nature gave the sign
Each day of good Saint Valentine,
For every bird, that wings the air,
To choose his make; and every pair
Together then to speed away,
And her controlling laws obey.
The fable still its hold maintains
With rural England's cottage swains.
And still, as still returns the day
Of good Saint Valentine, they say
The little birds their partners take;
And each, with its selected make,
Begins their annual course prepare
Of household joys, and household care.
With rural England's cottage swains.
And still, as still returns the day
Of good Saint Valentine, they say
The little birds their partners take;
And each, with its selected make,
Begins their annual course prepare
Of household joys, and household care.
What with the tenants of the groves,
Their joys and cares, their homes and loves,
Has good Saint Valentine to do;
And whence the pleasing fiction grew;
And when, and where, and how began
The tales, which with that holy man,
Who fought till death the Christian fight,
Those feather'd choristers unite;
I skill not: and in sober sooth
But little know they of the truth,
Who with a keener vision pore
On tales of legendary lore.
But the good Saint whate'er befall,
'Tis no unpleasing thought that all
The feather'd kind to Nature's voice
Obedient listen, and rejoice
Together, sprightly all and gay,
On that their general wedding-day.
Their joys and cares, their homes and loves,
Has good Saint Valentine to do;
And whence the pleasing fiction grew;
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The tales, which with that holy man,
Who fought till death the Christian fight,
Those feather'd choristers unite;
I skill not: and in sober sooth
But little know they of the truth,
Who with a keener vision pore
On tales of legendary lore.
But the good Saint whate'er befall,
'Tis no unpleasing thought that all
The feather'd kind to Nature's voice
Obedient listen, and rejoice
Together, sprightly all and gay,
On that their general wedding-day.
Yes: 'tis a pleasing kindly thought!
And, tho' from fiction's region brought,
(For deem we not 'tis Nature's aim
Her works with such design to frame
Correlative, that each must own
Its stated counterpart alone;
Nor that the selfsame day must bind
In wedlock all the feather'd kind:)
The thought no less from nature's law
May seem its origin to draw;
Based on that high Creative Will,
Which with profound unfailing skill,
And wisdom passing human eye
The secrets of its depths to try,
Each sex in numbers wellnigh even
To every different kind has given;
And prompts full many a plumed breast
About the sainted Martyr's feast,
If not the selfsame day, to woo
His future consort, and pursue
The sweet solicitudes that wait
The nuptial and parental state.
And, tho' from fiction's region brought,
(For deem we not 'tis Nature's aim
Her works with such design to frame
Correlative, that each must own
Its stated counterpart alone;
Nor that the selfsame day must bind
In wedlock all the feather'd kind:)
The thought no less from nature's law
May seem its origin to draw;
Based on that high Creative Will,
Which with profound unfailing skill,
And wisdom passing human eye
The secrets of its depths to try,
Each sex in numbers wellnigh even
To every different kind has given;
And prompts full many a plumed breast
About the sainted Martyr's feast,
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His future consort, and pursue
The sweet solicitudes that wait
The nuptial and parental state.
Pairing time. Courtship of birds. Rivalry. Infirmity common to all earthly things. Nestling places. Choice of them the result of natural instinct
For now how beats, with love imprest,
Each little bird's impassion'd breast!
What arts, what blandishments he tries,
For favour in his lov'd one's eyes!
How does he strut, and flutter round,
And beat with quivering wing the ground;
And now recede, and now advance,
With courteous chirp, and ogling glance;
Now prune his painted feathers sleek
With comb-like claw, and oily beak;
Now, if she fly from place to place,
Pursue her in the amorous chase;
And sidling up with loaded bill
Proffer sweet morsels; and with skill
Love-tutor'd, perch'd on neighbouring tree
Pour forth his soul in harmony:
Now higher still, and still more high,
Unlocking all the tones that lie
Imprison'd in his tuneful throat;
And now, with softer, sweeter note,
Warbling, as if “with Lydian measures”
He sought to “soothe her soul to pleasures!”
Each little bird's impassion'd breast!
What arts, what blandishments he tries,
For favour in his lov'd one's eyes!
How does he strut, and flutter round,
And beat with quivering wing the ground;
And now recede, and now advance,
With courteous chirp, and ogling glance;
Now prune his painted feathers sleek
With comb-like claw, and oily beak;
Now, if she fly from place to place,
Pursue her in the amorous chase;
And sidling up with loaded bill
Proffer sweet morsels; and with skill
Love-tutor'd, perch'd on neighbouring tree
Pour forth his soul in harmony:
Now higher still, and still more high,
Unlocking all the tones that lie
Imprison'd in his tuneful throat;
And now, with softer, sweeter note,
Warbling, as if “with Lydian measures”
He sought to “soothe her soul to pleasures!”
Then if a rival venture by,
How does his alter'd voice defy
The intruder rash, with hostile tone,
Loud, ardent, fierce! nor voice alone,
But bitter deeds of fell despight,
And blows, and wounds, and mortal fight!
Ah! who would think such passions fell
Within such lovely forms could dwell,
And to such notes discordant move
The voice so lately tun'd to love?
But 'tis the weakness of their kind:
And love, which prompts each little mind
Affection's fondest signs to show
To those they love, on rival foe
Prompts them no less the wrong to wreak,
With talon bent, and pointed beak;
Their wrath by every vent to spend,
Their wish to gain, and gain'd defend.
How does his alter'd voice defy
The intruder rash, with hostile tone,
Loud, ardent, fierce! nor voice alone,
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And blows, and wounds, and mortal fight!
Ah! who would think such passions fell
Within such lovely forms could dwell,
And to such notes discordant move
The voice so lately tun'd to love?
But 'tis the weakness of their kind:
And love, which prompts each little mind
Affection's fondest signs to show
To those they love, on rival foe
Prompts them no less the wrong to wreak,
With talon bent, and pointed beak;
Their wrath by every vent to spend,
Their wish to gain, and gain'd defend.
Yes! 'tis a grateful sight to see
“Birds in their little nests agree:”
And grateful is the sound to hear
Their lively chirp, their warble clear,
Unprompted, unconstrain'd by art,
Spontaneous from the swelling heart!
But birds, like other things of earth,
Give symptoms of terrestrial birth:
And join with all that breathe to show,
That nought is perfect here below;
And, who would taste unmingled love,
Must quaff it from its Fount above.
But these harsh bickerings pass we o'er,
“Birds in their little nests agree:”
And grateful is the sound to hear
Their lively chirp, their warble clear,
Unprompted, unconstrain'd by art,
Spontaneous from the swelling heart!
But birds, like other things of earth,
Give symptoms of terrestrial birth:
And join with all that breathe to show,
That nought is perfect here below;
And, who would taste unmingled love,
Must quaff it from its Fount above.
The future dwelling to explore
In hedge, or copse, or hollow glen;
What time at length the yielding hen,
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Or mien, or courteous acts, her choice
Has made; and with her troth-plight spouse
Threads the close covert of the boughs,
Or careful marks the tangled hedge,
Or on slope bank the shelter'd ledge,
Or cavern'd nook, or blooming spray,
The fortunes of their house to lay.
For copse, or nook, or bank, or brake,
All their appropriate homestead make,
As from the birth day of the race
All-guiding nature shows the place,
And prompts each dwelling to prepare,
And teaches when, and how, and where.
No project of inventive will,
Nor fruit of imitative skill,
Attent with heedful care to view,
And, what is done by others, do
Observant: but at first imprest
By God on every plumed breast,
What time he form'd, and gave to fly
Throughout the wide expanded sky
The fowls, and bade each feather'd birth
“Increase and multiply” on earth!
He gave the law; and taught the way
Withal his precept to obey;
Taught them the season when to wed,
And where to hang “the procreant bed,”
And with nice touch and just design
The art-defying fabrick twine.
Early pairers. Blackbirds, their nest. Thrushes, their nest exquisitely lined. Missel Thrushes, their nest protected from rain. General likeness and particular distinctions among congenerous birds
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The first of nuptial bonds the care,
At least among the first, to share,
“The Ouzel-cock, so black of hue,
With orange tawny bill ,” who flew
About the lawn each morning grey,
And pick'd his food for many a day
Alone, now hopping side by side
Devotes him to his dusky bride:
Anon the o'erarching boughs between
Of some selected evergreen,
Of laurel thick, or branching fir,
Or bed of pleasant lavender,
To lodge secure their pendant home;
A well-wove frame, with moisten'd loam
Within cemented, and without
Rough, but compactly all about
With moss and fibrous roots intwin'd,
And wither'd bent-grass softly lin'd,
Where may repose in season due
Their pregnant balls of chalky blue,
Besprent about the flatten'd crown
With pallid spots of chestnut brown.
At least among the first, to share,
“The Ouzel-cock, so black of hue,
With orange tawny bill ,” who flew
About the lawn each morning grey,
And pick'd his food for many a day
Alone, now hopping side by side
Devotes him to his dusky bride:
Anon the o'erarching boughs between
Of some selected evergreen,
Of laurel thick, or branching fir,
Or bed of pleasant lavender,
To lodge secure their pendant home;
A well-wove frame, with moisten'd loam
Within cemented, and without
Rough, but compactly all about
With moss and fibrous roots intwin'd,
And wither'd bent-grass softly lin'd,
Where may repose in season due
Their pregnant balls of chalky blue,
Besprent about the flatten'd crown
With pallid spots of chestnut brown.
Nor less to hold in season due
Her spotted eggs of chalky blue,
Or in the thorn or holly bush,
Or hedge, or furzy brake, the Thrush
Her twig and moss-inwoven nest
Shall fashion; and with plastick breast,
And bill with native moisture fraught,
Smooth the thin coat, from stable sought
Or stall, with rounded form to line
The cup-like fabrick's plaited twine.
The mystick voice, that bids her build,
Or ere the sprouted foliage shield
Her dwelling from the biting air,
Bids her no less her home prepare
Impervious to the impending storm,
A chinkless mansion, close and warm.
Nor he, who now impatient wooes
Her love, shall he the meed refuse
Assistant of connubial aid:
And, perching on the half-form'd shade
Of April's fresh and tender spray,
Shall cheer her with his mellow lay.
Her spotted eggs of chalky blue,
Or in the thorn or holly bush,
Or hedge, or furzy brake, the Thrush
Her twig and moss-inwoven nest
Shall fashion; and with plastick breast,
And bill with native moisture fraught,
Smooth the thin coat, from stable sought
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The cup-like fabrick's plaited twine.
The mystick voice, that bids her build,
Or ere the sprouted foliage shield
Her dwelling from the biting air,
Bids her no less her home prepare
Impervious to the impending storm,
A chinkless mansion, close and warm.
Nor he, who now impatient wooes
Her love, shall he the meed refuse
Assistant of connubial aid:
And, perching on the half-form'd shade
Of April's fresh and tender spray,
Shall cheer her with his mellow lay.
They too, of kindred stock, who claim,
The Missel-birds, the thrushes name,
Their matrimonial league complete,
Anon shall seek their favourite seat
Or in the orchard or the wold:
To grasp the nest a forked hold,
Where, parted from the parent stem,
Apple or pine, the branching limb
Shows its rough bark, and o'er it stray
The pale green moss, and lichens grey.
Wove with the nest, a mingled mass
Of earth, and twigs, and twisted grass,
But all with prudent choice arrang'd,
Compact, and duly interchang'd,
Soon shall those lichens grey be seen,
And mossy sprigs of whitish green;
Or, failing such, of fibrous roots,
And the young larch's limber shoots,
And thatch-like straw, a wicker drain,
With refuse of the keen-edg'd plane,
A drip-stone, whence, the nest beside,
The drops of trickling rain may glide.
The Missel-birds, the thrushes name,
Their matrimonial league complete,
Anon shall seek their favourite seat
Or in the orchard or the wold:
To grasp the nest a forked hold,
Where, parted from the parent stem,
Apple or pine, the branching limb
Shows its rough bark, and o'er it stray
The pale green moss, and lichens grey.
Wove with the nest, a mingled mass
Of earth, and twigs, and twisted grass,
But all with prudent choice arrang'd,
Compact, and duly interchang'd,
Soon shall those lichens grey be seen,
And mossy sprigs of whitish green;
Or, failing such, of fibrous roots,
And the young larch's limber shoots,
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With refuse of the keen-edg'd plane,
A drip-stone, whence, the nest beside,
The drops of trickling rain may glide.
Well may you mark with curious eyes,
And pay the search with pleas'd surprise,
What signs unite, what signs divide,
These birds congenerous; allied,
But differing still, their kinds among,
In make, and hue, and pow'r of song,
And place of revelry and rest,
And weaving of each curious nest!
And so 'tis strange, 'tis passing strange,
And wonderful, throughout the range
Of nature's varied works to see,
What likeness, what diversity,
In all her cognate tribes is shown:
All by their marks peculiar known;
Possessing all some common grace,
As brethren of a kindred race.
Mysterious law! which thus defines
The old hereditary lines,
That part the kindred sorts, or bind
Together in one general kind:
That all the signs primeval show
Of general likeness; none can go
A step those primal signs beyond:
Each special mark, the common bond,
Fruits of the same unerring skill,
And order'd by the same high will!
And pay the search with pleas'd surprise,
What signs unite, what signs divide,
These birds congenerous; allied,
But differing still, their kinds among,
In make, and hue, and pow'r of song,
And place of revelry and rest,
And weaving of each curious nest!
And so 'tis strange, 'tis passing strange,
And wonderful, throughout the range
Of nature's varied works to see,
What likeness, what diversity,
In all her cognate tribes is shown:
All by their marks peculiar known;
Possessing all some common grace,
As brethren of a kindred race.
Mysterious law! which thus defines
The old hereditary lines,
That part the kindred sorts, or bind
Together in one general kind:
That all the signs primeval show
Of general likeness; none can go
A step those primal signs beyond:
Each special mark, the common bond,
Fruits of the same unerring skill,
And order'd by the same high will!
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Sky-lark. His low nestling place, and lofty flight. His descent. His soaring interrupted by a bird of prey.
On grassy mead or stubble field
The Sky-lark now begins to build,
Low on the ridg'd and hollow ground,
Of leaves and speargrass loosely wound
And matted twine of horses' hair,
His homely dwelling. Small the care
It seems to boast; but well the place
Select, and habits of the race,
That thatch'd and sloping fabrick fits:
Where thro' the storm the female sits,
And aids with outspread plumes to throw
The rain-drops from her charge below.
The Sky-lark now begins to build,
Low on the ridg'd and hollow ground,
Of leaves and speargrass loosely wound
And matted twine of horses' hair,
His homely dwelling. Small the care
It seems to boast; but well the place
Select, and habits of the race,
That thatch'd and sloping fabrick fits:
Where thro' the storm the female sits,
And aids with outspread plumes to throw
The rain-drops from her charge below.
Few choose their nursling's place of rest
So lowly as the Sky-lark's nest:
None seek to reach the Sky-lark's height,
So steep, so far, so long a flight.
See, how he spreads his quivering wings;
And sweeping round in spiral rings,
Now rising, rising, rising still,
Mounts upward, while his raptures thrill
The sky with gladness! See him there,
While hovering in the liquid air,
Self-balanc'd o'er his nest he floats,
And chaunts his lively, joyous notes,
Concluding never, still beginning,
The ear to mute attention winning
As easily the livelong hour
Pois'd on his high aerial tower,
As from the thrush the warbles flow
Perch'd on his budding tree below.
Thence down, and down, and down again,
With yet unspent, unwearied strain,
He sinks: till near his consort's nest,
A moment, and his wings are prest
Close to his sides; the warble stops;
And stone-like by her side he drops.
So lowly as the Sky-lark's nest:
None seek to reach the Sky-lark's height,
So steep, so far, so long a flight.
See, how he spreads his quivering wings;
And sweeping round in spiral rings,
Now rising, rising, rising still,
Mounts upward, while his raptures thrill
The sky with gladness! See him there,
While hovering in the liquid air,
Self-balanc'd o'er his nest he floats,
And chaunts his lively, joyous notes,
Concluding never, still beginning,
The ear to mute attention winning
As easily the livelong hour
Pois'd on his high aerial tower,
As from the thrush the warbles flow
Perch'd on his budding tree below.
Thence down, and down, and down again,
With yet unspent, unwearied strain,
57
A moment, and his wings are prest
Close to his sides; the warble stops;
And stone-like by her side he drops.
But, mark! while warbling yet on high,
Why, in the twinkling of an eye,
Is oft the song of rapture mute
At once? at once the pinions shut?
At once his steep and soaring flight
Ceas'd? till with slanting wing he light
Aloof, and thence with beating breast
Creep cowering to his lowly nest?
Why, in the twinkling of an eye,
Is oft the song of rapture mute
At once? at once the pinions shut?
At once his steep and soaring flight
Ceas'd? till with slanting wing he light
Aloof, and thence with beating breast
Creep cowering to his lowly nest?
'Tis his keen sense, tho' far away,
The approach, wide prowling for his prey,
Of beak'd and talon'd Hawk has caught,
Or gliding Kite; and, quick as thought,
Down drops he! But, alas, I fear,
Destruction has already here
Been busy. Lo! that clotted mass
Of feathers on the blood-red grass,
Cast recklessly yon tree beneath,
Tells a sad tale of spoil and death!
The approach, wide prowling for his prey,
Of beak'd and talon'd Hawk has caught,
Or gliding Kite; and, quick as thought,
Down drops he! But, alas, I fear,
Destruction has already here
Been busy. Lo! that clotted mass
Of feathers on the blood-red grass,
Cast recklessly yon tree beneath,
Tells a sad tale of spoil and death!
Return of rooks to their rookery. Strange choice of populous situations. More fond of retired places. Building of their nests. Fondness for congregating. Internal discipline. Seeming sense of equity. Mutual kindness. Jealousy of different colonies. Hostility between rooks and herons
His eyry now the clamorous Rook,
Who in th' autumnal months forsook,
For brake or forest's wider realm,
His native grove of oak or elm,
Revisits. Lo, not here and there
Disperst, a solitary pair;
But thick, and clustering like a swarm
Of bees, their residence to form,
The commonwealth collected crowd,
Tumultuous, wild, loquacious, loud.
Who in th' autumnal months forsook,
For brake or forest's wider realm,
His native grove of oak or elm,
Revisits. Lo, not here and there
Disperst, a solitary pair;
But thick, and clustering like a swarm
Of bees, their residence to form,
58
Tumultuous, wild, loquacious, loud.
Tho' oft the groves of elm-trees tall
They haunt, that flank some antique hall,
Or cast their solemn shade around
Some village churchyard's hallow'd ground,
Retir'd, as if to them were sweet
The stillness of such lone retreat:
Yet oft, no less, mid towered town,
Some lofty range they make their own,
Uninjur'd; where the quenchless noise
Of jocund task-remitted boys,
Well pleas'd, or busy hum of men,
They hear, and back return agen,
With caw, and croak, and stunning cry
From all their wild democraty.
Nor have there wanted some, 'tis said,
Who fix'd at times their procreant bed
In populous city, fain to dwell
On star-ypointing pinnacle,
Or tapering spire of holy fane,
And nestle on the changeful vane.
They haunt, that flank some antique hall,
Or cast their solemn shade around
Some village churchyard's hallow'd ground,
Retir'd, as if to them were sweet
The stillness of such lone retreat:
Yet oft, no less, mid towered town,
Some lofty range they make their own,
Uninjur'd; where the quenchless noise
Of jocund task-remitted boys,
Well pleas'd, or busy hum of men,
They hear, and back return agen,
With caw, and croak, and stunning cry
From all their wild democraty.
Nor have there wanted some, 'tis said,
Who fix'd at times their procreant bed
In populous city, fain to dwell
On star-ypointing pinnacle,
Or tapering spire of holy fane,
And nestle on the changeful vane.
But rarer such: the planted grove
More apt their freewill choice to prove.
There when first spring their fervour wakes,
And calls them from the woods and brakes,
Both young and old the accustom'd trees
Eye with nice care sagacious: these
The ruins of the former year
Afresh to garnish: those to rear
On branch of wise selection, scann'd
With prudent thought mature, and plann'd
By rule and gage to nature true,
The fabrick of their mansions new:
Of twig-form'd framework, close and strong,
“Clench'd overthwart and endèlong .”
Like Mars's adamantine door,
Renown'd in knightly tale of yore,
Tho' not “of iron tough,” of root
More meet the use design'd to suit;
“Close,” to protect from piercing air,
And “strong,” the rocking blasts to bear.
More apt their freewill choice to prove.
There when first spring their fervour wakes,
And calls them from the woods and brakes,
Both young and old the accustom'd trees
Eye with nice care sagacious: these
The ruins of the former year
Afresh to garnish: those to rear
On branch of wise selection, scann'd
With prudent thought mature, and plann'd
59
The fabrick of their mansions new:
Of twig-form'd framework, close and strong,
“Clench'd overthwart and endèlong .”
Like Mars's adamantine door,
Renown'd in knightly tale of yore,
Tho' not “of iron tough,” of root
More meet the use design'd to suit;
“Close,” to protect from piercing air,
And “strong,” the rocking blasts to bear.
From tree to tree the fabricks grow;
From bough to bough, above, below,
Its post the aspiring town maintains,
Stage above stage: so strongly reigns
The love implanted in their breasts,
In league their congregated nests
To build, and, tho' not void of strife,
Confederate lead a social life.
From bough to bough, above, below,
Its post the aspiring town maintains,
Stage above stage: so strongly reigns
The love implanted in their breasts,
In league their congregated nests
To build, and, tho' not void of strife,
Confederate lead a social life.
Thus the same branch, they held of old,
Each ancient pair now claims to hold
Of right, by all the experienc'd crowd
Of seniors as of right allow'd.
But if a pair, not duly school'd,
Nor by the common charter rul'd,
Nor by respect for age controll'd,
Presumptuous, forward, rash, and bold;
A junior pair, for youth, it seems,
Oft of its proper state misdeems;
If such a pair presume to seize
A station on the well-known trees,
Before appropriate; or perchance
Too near the sacred bound advance
Of old propriety; or dare
Unduly sought materials bear:
How shall they soon the deed bemoan!
Not by the injur'd pair alone
Pursued, but by a general throng
Combin'd by sentence just the wrong
To punish, and the right defend
Legitimate, and picemeal rend
The rash invader's work design'd,
And cast it to the scattering wind.
Each ancient pair now claims to hold
Of right, by all the experienc'd crowd
Of seniors as of right allow'd.
But if a pair, not duly school'd,
Nor by the common charter rul'd,
Nor by respect for age controll'd,
Presumptuous, forward, rash, and bold;
A junior pair, for youth, it seems,
Oft of its proper state misdeems;
If such a pair presume to seize
A station on the well-known trees,
60
Too near the sacred bound advance
Of old propriety; or dare
Unduly sought materials bear:
How shall they soon the deed bemoan!
Not by the injur'd pair alone
Pursued, but by a general throng
Combin'd by sentence just the wrong
To punish, and the right defend
Legitimate, and picemeal rend
The rash invader's work design'd,
And cast it to the scattering wind.
It seems a feeling undefin'd
Of natural justice prompts their mind,
To give the rightful sufferer aid,
Th' intruder punish. And 'tis said,
If by mischance or ruthless wound
Distrest, a brother bird be found,
Griev'd at his grief, with cheering cry
And wing advancing on, they try
To guide him to their airy height,
And help to take the homeward flight.
And sure it soothes the mind to think,
They, whom the laws of nature link
In being, thus with kindly heart
Each with his fellows bear a part.
A rule of love, howe'er imprest
On them, not always learn'd, at least
Not always kept, by those, who boast
In nature's scale a loftier post!
Of natural justice prompts their mind,
To give the rightful sufferer aid,
Th' intruder punish. And 'tis said,
If by mischance or ruthless wound
Distrest, a brother bird be found,
Griev'd at his grief, with cheering cry
And wing advancing on, they try
To guide him to their airy height,
And help to take the homeward flight.
And sure it soothes the mind to think,
They, whom the laws of nature link
In being, thus with kindly heart
Each with his fellows bear a part.
A rule of love, howe'er imprest
On them, not always learn'd, at least
Not always kept, by those, who boast
In nature's scale a loftier post!
But, ah! where one confederate race
Has fix'd their wonted dwelling place,
Let no presumptuous strangers dare
Attempt intrusively to share
Their fortunes, lest disastrous flight
And death the misplaced trust requite.
Nor where the Rooks have set their rest,
Let the tall Herons seek their nest
To settle, lest they lead the way
To dire debate, and mortal fray:
Till these or those the mastery yield
Disabled of the foughten field.
Ah! fruitless then become the cares,
Which now attend the nuptial pairs:
The male's endearments fian to wait
With food upon his cherish'd mate,
Like parent on his tender brood;
The female's fond return, the food
Accepting, which her partner brings,
With trembling voice and fluttering wings!
Has fix'd their wonted dwelling place,
61
Attempt intrusively to share
Their fortunes, lest disastrous flight
And death the misplaced trust requite.
Nor where the Rooks have set their rest,
Let the tall Herons seek their nest
To settle, lest they lead the way
To dire debate, and mortal fray:
Till these or those the mastery yield
Disabled of the foughten field.
Ah! fruitless then become the cares,
Which now attend the nuptial pairs:
The male's endearments fian to wait
With food upon his cherish'd mate,
Like parent on his tender brood;
The female's fond return, the food
Accepting, which her partner brings,
With trembling voice and fluttering wings!
Raven's nest a formidable neighbour. Their favourite nestling places and habits. Connubial and parental attachment. Injuries to the sheepfold and poultry yard. Instruction to be derived from them
Nor less disastrous is their lot,
If near the old accustom'd spot,
Alike to household cares addrest,
The Raven plant his early nest.
If near the old accustom'd spot,
Alike to household cares addrest,
The Raven plant his early nest.
Ill-omen'd bird! with mind intent
On spoil, and thoughts on slaughter bent,
Thence oft he'll sally for his prey,
The rook's young nestlings; and away
Bear them triumphant off, for food
To glut his own voracious brood.
On spoil, and thoughts on slaughter bent,
Thence oft he'll sally for his prey,
The rook's young nestlings; and away
Bear them triumphant off, for food
To glut his own voracious brood.
Ill-omen'd bird! Nay rather speed
Far, far away, thy young to breed
In some secluded silent wood;
Or in some cavern'd solitude,
That beetles o'er the sullen deep;
Or ruin'd castle's ivied steep!
There from thy old coeval oak
Toll forth thy melancholy croak!
There, issuing from thy ghostly haunt,
On gloomy wing the traveller daunt!
Or from thy eyry in the sky
Look down with keen and piercing eye,
And mark thy destin'd carrion food,
Or scent afar the smell of blood!
But here thy ravages forbear,
And our innocuous neighbours spare!
Far, far away, thy young to breed
62
Or in some cavern'd solitude,
That beetles o'er the sullen deep;
Or ruin'd castle's ivied steep!
There from thy old coeval oak
Toll forth thy melancholy croak!
There, issuing from thy ghostly haunt,
On gloomy wing the traveller daunt!
Or from thy eyry in the sky
Look down with keen and piercing eye,
And mark thy destin'd carrion food,
Or scent afar the smell of blood!
But here thy ravages forbear,
And our innocuous neighbours spare!
Farewell! Tho' all thy worth allow,
Tenacious of the nuptial vow;
Fain with perennial zeal to share
Thy glossy make's regards and care,
To feed her with thy gather'd spoil,
Or ease her from the brooding toil:—
Farewell! tho' deep with love imbued
So constant for thy future brood,
That, while thy nesting place around
The wood re-echoed to the sound
Of saw, and wedge, and driving mall,
And the tree nodded to its fall;
Still did the dam refuse to quit
Her nest and future young, and sit
Undaunted, till with sweepy sway
Of trunk, and branch, and branching spray
Down, down the forest-monarch rush'd,
And dam, nest, young together crush'd :
What tho' our kindly feelings move
Thy nuptial and parental love,
Farewell! we would not fain espy
Thy wicker nest our dwelling nigh,
Nor hear thy ill-foreboding tone;
Lest not the rookery alone
Unpeopled cease its sportive cries;
But for his youngling's ravag'd eyes,
What time he tells his daily tale,
The disappointed shepherd wail;
And her plum'd flock the housewife mourn,
To thy unsparing plunder lorn!
Tenacious of the nuptial vow;
Fain with perennial zeal to share
Thy glossy make's regards and care,
To feed her with thy gather'd spoil,
Or ease her from the brooding toil:—
Farewell! tho' deep with love imbued
So constant for thy future brood,
That, while thy nesting place around
The wood re-echoed to the sound
Of saw, and wedge, and driving mall,
And the tree nodded to its fall;
Still did the dam refuse to quit
Her nest and future young, and sit
Undaunted, till with sweepy sway
Of trunk, and branch, and branching spray
63
And dam, nest, young together crush'd :
What tho' our kindly feelings move
Thy nuptial and parental love,
Farewell! we would not fain espy
Thy wicker nest our dwelling nigh,
Nor hear thy ill-foreboding tone;
Lest not the rookery alone
Unpeopled cease its sportive cries;
But for his youngling's ravag'd eyes,
What time he tells his daily tale,
The disappointed shepherd wail;
And her plum'd flock the housewife mourn,
To thy unsparing plunder lorn!
Yet fail we not meanwhile to draw
Instruction from the bounteous law,
Which rules thy being. Tho' thou know
Nor time the fruitful seed to “sow;”
Nor time the golden crop to “reap,”
And “store the barn's” o'erflowing heap ;
Yet dost thou find prepar'd thy food
Ev'n in the desert's solitude:
For He, who made thee, hears thy cries,
Thy wish regards, thy want supplies.
Alas! what feeble faith is our's!
Who, blest with reasonable powers,
The speaking voice, the conscious heart,
The soul that grasps, from sense apart,
Heaven's glories in its boundless scope,
And, most of all, the heavenly hope;
Raise not to Him the fervent pray'r,
Nor thank his providential care,
Nor trust in Him, who gives us all,
And listens to the raven's call !
Instruction from the bounteous law,
Which rules thy being. Tho' thou know
Nor time the fruitful seed to “sow;”
Nor time the golden crop to “reap,”
And “store the barn's” o'erflowing heap ;
Yet dost thou find prepar'd thy food
Ev'n in the desert's solitude:
For He, who made thee, hears thy cries,
Thy wish regards, thy want supplies.
Alas! what feeble faith is our's!
Who, blest with reasonable powers,
The speaking voice, the conscious heart,
The soul that grasps, from sense apart,
Heaven's glories in its boundless scope,
And, most of all, the heavenly hope;
64
Nor thank his providential care,
Nor trust in Him, who gives us all,
And listens to the raven's call !
Partridges early in pairing, but not in breeding. Their affection
Tho' not, as yet, the pleasing cares
And toils of progeny they know.
Hard is their dwelling place; and low
Their nest 'mid tangled grass is found
Constructed on the hollow'd ground,
Materials rude, with slender art
Arrang'd: but their's the better part
With care combin'd the tender brood
To hatch, to rear, to call, with food
To nourish from the ant-hills nigh.
And often with distressful cry,
And limping gait that feigns a wound,
And shivering wings, along the ground
They run by ways diverging; so
To puzzle, if injurious foe
Their unprotected home molest,
And lead him from their nursling's nest.
Sure 'tis a voice divine, that dwells
Within, and prompts the thought, and tells
Their course by some mysterious sign:
And sure to us that voice divine
Speaks, and by such example draws
To follow its recorded laws;
Bids us the partridge' zeal approve,
And copy their parental love.
65
Singing of Birds. Goldfinch, Yellow Hammer, Blue Tit, Marsh Tit, Pied Wagtail, Stone Curlew, Pheasant, Ring Dove, Brown Owl, Woodpecker, Wood Lark. Times of singing varied by circumstances. Hampshire. White of Selborne. Personal observation needful
But hark! where'er abroad you come,
Each throat, untun'd erewhile and dumb,
With song, the bosom's joy that tells,
The many mingled concert swells.
Each throat, untun'd erewhile and dumb,
With song, the bosom's joy that tells,
The many mingled concert swells.
Of scarlet front and golden wing
The Finch now makes the orchard ring
With his sweet melody: a note
Sounds from the Bunting's citron throat
Less tuneful by the hedgerow way.
Sequester'd 'mid the budding spray
The Blue-cap chirps: and sharp and harsh
His brother from the willow'd marsh.
From water'd mead, or streamlet's side,
More softly sings the Wagtail pied.
'Mid the gray flints, on breezy hill
Or sheep-fed heath the clamour shrill,
While his dim form eludes the view,
Sounds distant of the Stone-curlew.
Along the green wheat's sprouting rows
The stately Pheasant struts; or crows
In thicket hid; or sudden springs,
And with his loud and whirring wings
Startles unseen the awaken'd ear
Of careless wanderer pacing near.
Within the yet unmantled grove,
Reciting vows of faithful love,
With changeful plumes, and plaintive coo,
Their mates the glossy Ring-doves woo,
And sinking low, or rising high,
Alternate fan the buxom sky.
There the Brown Owl begins to hoot:
And he, the bird of olive suit,
With front of black and crimson gay,
And yellow rump, the Poppinjay
With sharp strokes of his orange bill,
And cry of “yaffle, yaffle,” shrill,
Makes the far-echoing wood resound.
And sweetest Woodlark, round and round
Wide wheeling, on his circling flight,
Or pendent from his airy height,
Or perch'd upon the forest tree,
In fullest tide of minstrelsy
To her, who sits the grass among,
Pours forth his morning, evening song.
The Finch now makes the orchard ring
With his sweet melody: a note
Sounds from the Bunting's citron throat
Less tuneful by the hedgerow way.
Sequester'd 'mid the budding spray
The Blue-cap chirps: and sharp and harsh
His brother from the willow'd marsh.
From water'd mead, or streamlet's side,
More softly sings the Wagtail pied.
'Mid the gray flints, on breezy hill
Or sheep-fed heath the clamour shrill,
While his dim form eludes the view,
Sounds distant of the Stone-curlew.
Along the green wheat's sprouting rows
The stately Pheasant struts; or crows
In thicket hid; or sudden springs,
And with his loud and whirring wings
Startles unseen the awaken'd ear
Of careless wanderer pacing near.
Within the yet unmantled grove,
Reciting vows of faithful love,
With changeful plumes, and plaintive coo,
Their mates the glossy Ring-doves woo,
And sinking low, or rising high,
Alternate fan the buxom sky.
There the Brown Owl begins to hoot:
And he, the bird of olive suit,
66
And yellow rump, the Poppinjay
With sharp strokes of his orange bill,
And cry of “yaffle, yaffle,” shrill,
Makes the far-echoing wood resound.
And sweetest Woodlark, round and round
Wide wheeling, on his circling flight,
Or pendent from his airy height,
Or perch'd upon the forest tree,
In fullest tide of minstrelsy
To her, who sits the grass among,
Pours forth his morning, evening song.
As, instinct-led, each various race
Finds its peculiar dwelling-place,
The difference much of site and clime;
And much the accidents of time,
As vernal gales and cheering rays
Speed more or less the genial days;
Still varying in its annual round,
The date of each recurring sound
Affect. But mostly sounds like these
The ear of February please,
Where health with rural pleasure roves
Thy chalky hills and beechen groves,
My native Hampshire! Such the notes,
Which from thy feather'd songsters' throats
Were heard by him, among the best
Of nature's chroniclers confest;
What time thro' every hollow lane
Of his lov'd Selborne's rustick reign,
By rushy pool, and living well,
Thro' dingle, brake, and bosky dell,
O'er cavern'd hill, and hanging wood,
Her course unwearied he pursued
Year after year with heedful ken;
And mark'd with his recording pen
Each feature in the annual range,
Of wonted use, or new and strange.
Finds its peculiar dwelling-place,
The difference much of site and clime;
And much the accidents of time,
As vernal gales and cheering rays
Speed more or less the genial days;
Still varying in its annual round,
The date of each recurring sound
Affect. But mostly sounds like these
The ear of February please,
Where health with rural pleasure roves
Thy chalky hills and beechen groves,
My native Hampshire! Such the notes,
Which from thy feather'd songsters' throats
Were heard by him, among the best
Of nature's chroniclers confest;
What time thro' every hollow lane
Of his lov'd Selborne's rustick reign,
By rushy pool, and living well,
Thro' dingle, brake, and bosky dell,
67
Her course unwearied he pursued
Year after year with heedful ken;
And mark'd with his recording pen
Each feature in the annual range,
Of wonted use, or new and strange.
And he, whoe'er the charms would know,
Which nature's varied features show,
Pleas'd with each native sound and sight,
Like thee, her own delightful White,
To visit her abodes must choose:
Nor studious of repose, refuse
On breezy down, or winding coombe,
Or in the woodland thicket's gloom,
By brook or stream, on meadow pied,
Or on the heathery mountain's side,
To woo her sweet society;
Nor be content to hear and see
With others' eyes and ears alone,
But mark and ponder with his own!
Which nature's varied features show,
Pleas'd with each native sound and sight,
Like thee, her own delightful White,
To visit her abodes must choose:
Nor studious of repose, refuse
On breezy down, or winding coombe,
Or in the woodland thicket's gloom,
By brook or stream, on meadow pied,
Or on the heathery mountain's side,
To woo her sweet society;
Nor be content to hear and see
With others' eyes and ears alone,
But mark and ponder with his own!
Many objects escape slight notice: instanced in mosses. Their general dissemination: their beauty and uses. Signs of divine power and benignity
What countless scenes evade the sense,
Which, scann'd with due intelligence,
For ceaseless observation yield
A pleasing, an instructive field!
What nice, what universal care
O'er spots, that barren seem and bare,
Of nature's varied sphere extends
Its influence! Yet how often sends
The eye its casual glance around,
And deems that all is lifeless ground,
Which still with active force is rife,
And teems with vegetable life!
Which, scann'd with due intelligence,
For ceaseless observation yield
A pleasing, an instructive field!
What nice, what universal care
O'er spots, that barren seem and bare,
Of nature's varied sphere extends
Its influence! Yet how often sends
The eye its casual glance around,
And deems that all is lifeless ground,
68
And teems with vegetable life!
Look round! while winter's lingering power
Checks the coy spring, no pleasant flower
May seem to animate the view.
But look again! the glance renew
With more discriminating eyes,
You'll see with pleasure and surprise
With liveliness and beauty spread,
What lifeless seem'd, and dull, and dead!
Checks the coy spring, no pleasant flower
May seem to animate the view.
But look again! the glance renew
With more discriminating eyes,
You'll see with pleasure and surprise
With liveliness and beauty spread,
What lifeless seem'd, and dull, and dead!
On upland hill; in lowland vale;
And where the frigid vapours sail,
Mantling the Alpine mountains hoar;
On granite rock, or boggy moor,
On peat-clad marsh, or sandy heath,
Or hillock's grassy slope; beneath
The hedgerow fence, and on the bank,
Fring'd with the plumed osier dank,
Of streamlet, pool, or waterfall;
On wave-wash'd stone, or plaster'd wall;
On tree of forest, or of fruit,
The bark-clad trunk, the heaving root;
Or where the spring with oozy slime
Slides trickling down the rifted lime;
Or where the gravelly pathway leads
Thro' shady woods, o'er plashy meads:
Exulting in the wintry cold,
Their cups the mossy tribes unfold;
Fring'd, and beneath a coping hid
Of filmy veil, and convex lid,
On many a thread-like stalk, bespread
With yellow, brown, or crimson red,
In contrast with the leaves of green,
A velvet carpet, where the queen
Of fairies might in triumph lie,
And view their elvish revelry,
Soft as the cygnet's downy plume,
Or produce of the silk-worm's loom.
And where the frigid vapours sail,
Mantling the Alpine mountains hoar;
On granite rock, or boggy moor,
On peat-clad marsh, or sandy heath,
Or hillock's grassy slope; beneath
The hedgerow fence, and on the bank,
Fring'd with the plumed osier dank,
Of streamlet, pool, or waterfall;
On wave-wash'd stone, or plaster'd wall;
On tree of forest, or of fruit,
The bark-clad trunk, the heaving root;
Or where the spring with oozy slime
Slides trickling down the rifted lime;
Or where the gravelly pathway leads
Thro' shady woods, o'er plashy meads:
Exulting in the wintry cold,
Their cups the mossy tribes unfold;
Fring'd, and beneath a coping hid
Of filmy veil, and convex lid,
On many a thread-like stalk, bespread
With yellow, brown, or crimson red,
69
A velvet carpet, where the queen
Of fairies might in triumph lie,
And view their elvish revelry,
Soft as the cygnet's downy plume,
Or produce of the silk-worm's loom.
Survey them by the unaided eye:
And, if the seeds within you lie
Of love for natural beauty true,
They'll shoot enliven'd at the view
Of hair or feather-mantled stem,
The wavy stalk, the fringed gem,
Enveloping its chalic'd fruit;
So fair, so perfect, so minute,
That bursting forth the seeds may seem
A floating cloud of vapoury steam.
And, if the seeds within you lie
Of love for natural beauty true,
They'll shoot enliven'd at the view
Of hair or feather-mantled stem,
The wavy stalk, the fringed gem,
Enveloping its chalic'd fruit;
So fair, so perfect, so minute,
That bursting forth the seeds may seem
A floating cloud of vapoury steam.
Or, by the microscopick glass
Survey'd, you'll see how far surpass
The works of Nature, in design,
And texture delicately fine,
And perfectness of every part,
Each effort of mimetick art.
Survey'd, you'll see how far surpass
The works of Nature, in design,
And texture delicately fine,
And perfectness of every part,
Each effort of mimetick art.
And deem not that for grace alone
These beauteous plants are round us thrown.
But rather deem them wisely spread
A living carpet o'er the bed
Of earth's too shallow soil, to meet
Alternacies of cold and heat:—
When, busy at the sprouting root,
The frost would mar the juicy shoot,
A shelter from the nipping air;
From heat a shelter, which might mar
The fibres, wither'd by the blaze,
Unshielded, of the solar rays:—
A nucleus, to collect the mould
On barren spots uncloth'd; a hold,
The mould unscatter'd to retain
By blowing winds or flooding rain.
And as the gardener's watchful care
The ground, of native clothing bare,
Indues with vegetative soil;
And with the waste's collected spoil
The tender plants expos'd defends:
So the Great Gardener mindful sends
These mossy tribes, wherewith to shun
The pinching frost, the scorching sun.
These beauteous plants are round us thrown.
But rather deem them wisely spread
A living carpet o'er the bed
Of earth's too shallow soil, to meet
Alternacies of cold and heat:—
When, busy at the sprouting root,
The frost would mar the juicy shoot,
A shelter from the nipping air;
From heat a shelter, which might mar
70
Unshielded, of the solar rays:—
A nucleus, to collect the mould
On barren spots uncloth'd; a hold,
The mould unscatter'd to retain
By blowing winds or flooding rain.
And as the gardener's watchful care
The ground, of native clothing bare,
Indues with vegetative soil;
And with the waste's collected spoil
The tender plants expos'd defends:
So the Great Gardener mindful sends
These mossy tribes, wherewith to shun
The pinching frost, the scorching sun.
And what if some remoter lie,
Beyond the reach of reason's eye
Their scope to fathom, and produce
More of delight perhaps than use;—
Delight to them that look abroad
For pleasure to the works of God,
More than of use to them who rate
All objects by their worldly weight:—
They form, with millions more, a sign
Of that all-gracious will benign,
Which made so fair as well as good
This pleasant earth; and not for food
His Eden fram'd, but for delight
As well of smelling and of sight.
Yet not of that, as useless deem,
Which can be made his glory's theme,
Who form'd it; at his will which rose,
Which at his will perpetual grows,
And joins with all in heav'n above
And earth beneath his pow'r to prove,
How great in all his works confest,
In none more great than in the least!
Beyond the reach of reason's eye
Their scope to fathom, and produce
More of delight perhaps than use;—
Delight to them that look abroad
For pleasure to the works of God,
More than of use to them who rate
All objects by their worldly weight:—
They form, with millions more, a sign
Of that all-gracious will benign,
Which made so fair as well as good
This pleasant earth; and not for food
His Eden fram'd, but for delight
As well of smelling and of sight.
Yet not of that, as useless deem,
Which can be made his glory's theme,
Who form'd it; at his will which rose,
Which at his will perpetual grows,
71
And earth beneath his pow'r to prove,
How great in all his works confest,
In none more great than in the least!
Lichens abundant in winter. Their curious appearance. Foundation for their vegetation. Protection against cold. The goatherd and Laplander. Capt. Franklin on his Arctick expedition
Or would you haply wish to trace
The wonders of the lichen race;
Cold but congenial to their kinds
The wintry air pervades, unbinds,
The tubercled and warty crust,
Which, in the summer heat adust,
Now swoln with moisture, spreads around
In shapes fantastick; and the ground,
Stones, rocks, and walls, and heathy waste,
And branching tree exhibits, cased
In spots with many a shining boss,
Or mingles with the verdant moss;
Prank'd like “the snake's enamell'd skin,”
Fit “weed to wrap a fairy in ;”
With hues as manifold as glow
Embroider'd on the heavenly bow.
The wonders of the lichen race;
Cold but congenial to their kinds
The wintry air pervades, unbinds,
The tubercled and warty crust,
Which, in the summer heat adust,
Now swoln with moisture, spreads around
In shapes fantastick; and the ground,
Stones, rocks, and walls, and heathy waste,
And branching tree exhibits, cased
In spots with many a shining boss,
Or mingles with the verdant moss;
Prank'd like “the snake's enamell'd skin,”
Fit “weed to wrap a fairy in ;”
With hues as manifold as glow
Embroider'd on the heavenly bow.
Perhaps you worthless deem, and by
Have past them with fastidious eye.
Yet not as such esteem'd by those,
Who mark how parent Nature throws
Oft o'er the desert's rocky scene
Her garb of vegetable green:
First on the barren surface bare,
Nurs'd by the fostering rain and air,
The lichen thin: a shallow base,
Whereon the sprouting moss may place
Its slender root, whence slowly spread,
Of width and depth increas'd, a bed
Is form'd to bear by just degrees
The bushy shrubs, the branching trees.
Have past them with fastidious eye.
Yet not as such esteem'd by those,
Who mark how parent Nature throws
Oft o'er the desert's rocky scene
Her garb of vegetable green:
First on the barren surface bare,
Nurs'd by the fostering rain and air,
72
Whereon the sprouting moss may place
Its slender root, whence slowly spread,
Of width and depth increas'd, a bed
Is form'd to bear by just degrees
The bushy shrubs, the branching trees.
Not worthless deem'd by those who note,
How, mantled by the fostering coat
Of moss or lichen, as below
The warm but less enduring snow,
The earth, else bare, with winter copes
Unchill'd; and on the mountain slopes,
What else might sink the tempest's spoil,
Retains the well-compacted soil.
How, mantled by the fostering coat
Of moss or lichen, as below
The warm but less enduring snow,
The earth, else bare, with winter copes
Unchill'd; and on the mountain slopes,
What else might sink the tempest's spoil,
Retains the well-compacted soil.
Not worthless deem'd by those who mark,
How from the thick incrusted bark
Of pine, or stones or mantled rock,
The goatherd sees his shaggy flock
Cull their scant meal; or on the wild
Uncultur'd wastes how Lapland's child
Collects the self-sown plants, to cheer,
His only wealth, the good rein-deer.
How from the thick incrusted bark
Of pine, or stones or mantled rock,
The goatherd sees his shaggy flock
Cull their scant meal; or on the wild
Uncultur'd wastes how Lapland's child
Collects the self-sown plants, to cheer,
His only wealth, the good rein-deer.
And sure not worthless deem'd by thee,
When with thy brethren of the sea,
'Twas thine far, far, away from home
Mid Arctick frost and storms to roam,
Brave Franklin! Leagu'd with storm and frost,
Toil, pain, and care, when famine crost
And faced thee with thy little band;
The force of her unnerving hand
By many a direful symptom shown,
The voice's deep sepulchral tone,
The expanded eye, the ghastly look,
The impatient thought infirm to brook
Ev'n friendship's proffer'd service kind,
The rambling tongue, the staggering mind;
Then did thy God a table dress,
Deep in the snow-clad wilderness,
With lichens from their rocky bed,
Thy staff of life, thy daily bread:
And home return'd thee safe to show,
How, from the lowest depth of woe,
Means, if He will, most weak may tend
To generate the wish'd-for end:
How well becomes the gallant mind
Firm faith, with dauntless courage join'd,
And piety: how well the sense
Of His o'erruling providence,
In his celestial teaching bold,
And strengthen'd by his strength, can hold
'Gainst hopelessness successful strife,
And triumph o'er the ills of life!
When with thy brethren of the sea,
'Twas thine far, far, away from home
Mid Arctick frost and storms to roam,
Brave Franklin! Leagu'd with storm and frost,
Toil, pain, and care, when famine crost
And faced thee with thy little band;
The force of her unnerving hand
By many a direful symptom shown,
The voice's deep sepulchral tone,
73
The impatient thought infirm to brook
Ev'n friendship's proffer'd service kind,
The rambling tongue, the staggering mind;
Then did thy God a table dress,
Deep in the snow-clad wilderness,
With lichens from their rocky bed,
Thy staff of life, thy daily bread:
And home return'd thee safe to show,
How, from the lowest depth of woe,
Means, if He will, most weak may tend
To generate the wish'd-for end:
How well becomes the gallant mind
Firm faith, with dauntless courage join'd,
And piety: how well the sense
Of His o'erruling providence,
In his celestial teaching bold,
And strengthen'd by his strength, can hold
'Gainst hopelessness successful strife,
And triumph o'er the ills of life!
February flowers not numerous. Procumbent Speedwell. Barren Strawberry. Dandelion. Dead Nettles. Butcher's Broom. Vernal Pilewort. Fetid and Green Hellebore. Coltsfoot. Daffodils. Violets. Sweetness of the white Violet. Wild flowers injured by cultivation
But should your taste be more inclin'd
From flow'rs of more conspicuous kind
To seek for pastime; tho' but scant
As yet be strewn the wilding plant,
Your favour'd search may some explore
To add to January's store.
The pastur'd mead or stubble field,
Or garden lightly scann'd, may yield
The first of all its numerous kind,
Procumbent Speedwell. See, inclin'd
On arching stalk, of bright blue die,
And with a round and pearl-like eye
Distinct, it shows its pendent head!
Pluck, but be cautious lest you shed
The petals of the tender flower;
And shorten thus the little hour
At most allotted it to grace
With transient bloom its native place!
From flow'rs of more conspicuous kind
To seek for pastime; tho' but scant
As yet be strewn the wilding plant,
Your favour'd search may some explore
To add to January's store.
The pastur'd mead or stubble field,
Or garden lightly scann'd, may yield
The first of all its numerous kind,
Procumbent Speedwell. See, inclin'd
74
And with a round and pearl-like eye
Distinct, it shows its pendent head!
Pluck, but be cautious lest you shed
The petals of the tender flower;
And shorten thus the little hour
At most allotted it to grace
With transient bloom its native place!
On pastures dry or hedge-bank see,
Where creeps the barren strawberry;
Alternating its petals white
With radiate points of verdure bright,
Which, meeting in a central neck
Of hairy fringe, its chalice deck.
And there the plant, which clothes the ground
With strap-like flowers, a yellow round
Of gold, whose leaves indented show
Of points acute a jagged row,
Thence call'd, if right I guess the truth,
By Gallick name “the Lion's tooth,”
With milk obnoxious to the taste.
And there, with whirls incircling graced,
Of white and purple-tinted red,
The harmless Nettle's helmed head,
Less apt with fragrance to delight
The smell, than please the curious sight.
Where creeps the barren strawberry;
Alternating its petals white
With radiate points of verdure bright,
Which, meeting in a central neck
Of hairy fringe, its chalice deck.
And there the plant, which clothes the ground
With strap-like flowers, a yellow round
Of gold, whose leaves indented show
Of points acute a jagged row,
Thence call'd, if right I guess the truth,
By Gallick name “the Lion's tooth,”
With milk obnoxious to the taste.
And there, with whirls incircling graced,
Of white and purple-tinted red,
The harmless Nettle's helmed head,
Less apt with fragrance to delight
The smell, than please the curious sight.
Mid barren heath the Butcher's Broom
On thorn-tipt leaves its lonely bloom
Infixes, where the central eye,
Swoln to a purple nectary,
Bright 'mid the greenish petals shows,
And dark green leaf, whereon it grows.
On thorn-tipt leaves its lonely bloom
Infixes, where the central eye,
Swoln to a purple nectary,
Bright 'mid the greenish petals shows,
And dark green leaf, whereon it grows.
75
See, as along the grove you pass,
Thicket, or hedge, or pastur'd grass,
The vernal Pilewort's globe unfold
Its star-like disk of burnish'd gold:
Starlike in seeming form, from far
It shines too like a glistening star.
Thicket, or hedge, or pastur'd grass,
The vernal Pilewort's globe unfold
Its star-like disk of burnish'd gold:
Starlike in seeming form, from far
It shines too like a glistening star.
Within the moist and shady glade
What plant, in suit of green array'd,
All heedless of the wintry cold,
Inhabits? Foremost to unfold,
Tho' half conceal'd, its bloom globose,
Whose petals green, o'erlapp'd and close,
Present each arch'd converging lip
Embroider'd with a purple tip;
And green its floral leaves expand,
With fingers like a mermaid's hand?
Full strange, and worthy to explore,
That plant, the fetid Hellebore,
Where'er in Britain's southern shades,
Tho' rare, it decks the woodland glades,
But most the rounded hills of chalk:
Or where the garden's shady walk,
By culture rear'd, the hardy flower
Skirts thro' the winter's gloomy hour,
Fair to the eye: but ah! beware,
Nor with rash tongue or finger dare
Approach it, lest you late repent
The acrid taste, or fetid scent.
What plant, in suit of green array'd,
All heedless of the wintry cold,
Inhabits? Foremost to unfold,
Tho' half conceal'd, its bloom globose,
Whose petals green, o'erlapp'd and close,
Present each arch'd converging lip
Embroider'd with a purple tip;
And green its floral leaves expand,
With fingers like a mermaid's hand?
Full strange, and worthy to explore,
That plant, the fetid Hellebore,
Where'er in Britain's southern shades,
Tho' rare, it decks the woodland glades,
But most the rounded hills of chalk:
Or where the garden's shady walk,
By culture rear'd, the hardy flower
Skirts thro' the winter's gloomy hour,
Fair to the eye: but ah! beware,
Nor with rash tongue or finger dare
Approach it, lest you late repent
The acrid taste, or fetid scent.
In nature, and in aspect fair,
Congenial, still perhaps more rare,
His brother too the wintry scene,
By title as in vesture green,
Adorns. But wide expanded lie
Its flowers, nor share a purple die:
And promptly as its leaves outspread,
Bursts from the birth its blooming head.
Congenial, still perhaps more rare,
His brother too the wintry scene,
By title as in vesture green,
76
Its flowers, nor share a purple die:
And promptly as its leaves outspread,
Bursts from the birth its blooming head.
On scaly stem, with cottony down
O'erlaid, its lemon-colour'd crown,
Which droop'd unclos'd, but now erect,
The Coltsfoot bright develops; deck'd,
Ere yet the impurpled stalk displays
Its dark green leaves, with countless rays,
Round countless tubes, alike in die,
Expanded: but howe'er the eye
Its tints may prize, no fragrant smells
It nourishes in nectar'd cells,
Link'd with its salutary power;
To rival that, its kindred flower,
Which, wont to scent its native gales
In fair Italia's Alpine vales,
Now from its lilac-colour'd bloom
Breathes o'er our walks a rich perfume.
O'erlaid, its lemon-colour'd crown,
Which droop'd unclos'd, but now erect,
The Coltsfoot bright develops; deck'd,
Ere yet the impurpled stalk displays
Its dark green leaves, with countless rays,
Round countless tubes, alike in die,
Expanded: but howe'er the eye
Its tints may prize, no fragrant smells
It nourishes in nectar'd cells,
Link'd with its salutary power;
To rival that, its kindred flower,
Which, wont to scent its native gales
In fair Italia's Alpine vales,
Now from its lilac-colour'd bloom
Breathes o'er our walks a rich perfume.
And there, with yellow nectary crown'd,
A hollow tube erect and round,
And yellow petals spread beneath,
Unfolded from their dark green sheath,
The Daffodills their bloom display,
And flaunt, the gayest of the gay.
And there, the sweetest of the sweet,
Low lurks the modest Violet,
Or white or blue: but of delight
Most prodigal the virgin white,
Within whose dainty bosom dwells
The quintessence of fragrant smells.
But tho', as in thy moral page
We read, thou Verulamian sage ,
Its breath more sweetly scents the air,
When doubled by the gardener's care;
By me more priz'd is nature's child
Amid its native woodlands wild.
And more I love the simplest flower,
In field, or hill, or woodland bower,
By “great creating Nature made;
Than when by man's presumptuous aid
With artificial beauties drest,
A handsome monster at the best.
Whate'er of gain may thence accrue,
If gain there be, in scent or hue;
Of adventitious beauty aught,
By art's ingenious talent wrought;
'Tis more than balanc'd by the cost
Of simple native beauty lost,
Some precious part, some feature fine,
The ruin of the just design
Exemplified in each, in all,
By excellence symmetrical,
By Nature's wise contrivance plann'd,
And fashion'd by her matchless hand.
As if the human legs were torn
Away, the body to adorn
With huge Briareus' hundred arms:
Or Argus' hundred eyes their charms
Conferr'd to lend a monstrous grace
To deck a lipless, noseless face.
A hollow tube erect and round,
And yellow petals spread beneath,
Unfolded from their dark green sheath,
The Daffodills their bloom display,
And flaunt, the gayest of the gay.
And there, the sweetest of the sweet,
Low lurks the modest Violet,
Or white or blue: but of delight
Most prodigal the virgin white,
Within whose dainty bosom dwells
The quintessence of fragrant smells.
77
We read, thou Verulamian sage ,
Its breath more sweetly scents the air,
When doubled by the gardener's care;
By me more priz'd is nature's child
Amid its native woodlands wild.
And more I love the simplest flower,
In field, or hill, or woodland bower,
By “great creating Nature made;
Than when by man's presumptuous aid
With artificial beauties drest,
A handsome monster at the best.
Whate'er of gain may thence accrue,
If gain there be, in scent or hue;
Of adventitious beauty aught,
By art's ingenious talent wrought;
'Tis more than balanc'd by the cost
Of simple native beauty lost,
Some precious part, some feature fine,
The ruin of the just design
Exemplified in each, in all,
By excellence symmetrical,
By Nature's wise contrivance plann'd,
And fashion'd by her matchless hand.
As if the human legs were torn
Away, the body to adorn
With huge Briareus' hundred arms:
Or Argus' hundred eyes their charms
Conferr'd to lend a monstrous grace
To deck a lipless, noseless face.
78
Trees most early with symptoms of vegetation. Willows. Weeping Willow. Larch. Fertile blossom of the Hazel, worthy of notice. Blossoms of the Yew.
But cautious yet their germs protrude
The brethren of the copse and wood,
For flow'r or leaf: conspicuous most
The wat'ry Willow's spray, embost
With oval knobs of silky down;
Which soon, in form of papal crown,
Shall decorate the russet stem
With many a golden diadem.
And he, that weeps the streamlet nigh,
With leaves of green and yellow die
Begins to hang the o'erbowering arch.
Nor less the straight and tapering Larch
Puts forth, but dares not yet unclose,
His cluster'd tassels' bright green rows.
The brethren of the copse and wood,
For flow'r or leaf: conspicuous most
The wat'ry Willow's spray, embost
With oval knobs of silky down;
Which soon, in form of papal crown,
Shall decorate the russet stem
With many a golden diadem.
And he, that weeps the streamlet nigh,
With leaves of green and yellow die
Begins to hang the o'erbowering arch.
Nor less the straight and tapering Larch
Puts forth, but dares not yet unclose,
His cluster'd tassels' bright green rows.
The Hazel too, which lately hung
His boughs with barren blossoms, strung
In wavy drops, on pendent rows,
Begins his fertile buds disclose,
Unfolding from each scaly bed
Its spreading tuft of crimson red.
Regard it well! Few things invite
More pleasingly the curious sight,
Than those small tufts of crimson: few
More strange, than that, in season due,
Thence, wrapt in bearded busk, should shoot
The nut's hard shell and kernel'd fruit.
His boughs with barren blossoms, strung
In wavy drops, on pendent rows,
Begins his fertile buds disclose,
Unfolding from each scaly bed
Its spreading tuft of crimson red.
Regard it well! Few things invite
More pleasingly the curious sight,
Than those small tufts of crimson: few
More strange, than that, in season due,
Thence, wrapt in bearded busk, should shoot
The nut's hard shell and kernel'd fruit.
Nor curious less the mountain Yew;
Which, 'mid its leaves of solemn hue,
Its sulphur-colour'd anthers now,
In clusters on the dark green bough,
Here, void of cup or blossom fair,
Exhibits; and at distance there
Its verdant chalices minute,
The embryos of its scarlet fruit.
Which, 'mid its leaves of solemn hue,
Its sulphur-colour'd anthers now,
In clusters on the dark green bough,
Here, void of cup or blossom fair,
Exhibits; and at distance there
79
The embryos of its scarlet fruit.
Wonderful laws of vegetable nature; exemplified in numerous particulars. Questions to be solved by reference to the will of the Creator
How wonderful the laws assign'd
To all the vegetable kind!
By what mysterious pow'r imprest,
Does every plant, that opes its breast
To gratulate the year's sweet prime,
And glad with fruit the autumnal time,
To bloom and ripe its season know,
And by fix'd laws of being grow?
Why, now that many a lingering flower
Awaits the later vernal hour,
Summer's or autumn's warmer glow;
Do these their charms maturer show
To spring's first wooing, nor forbear
The blasts and chilling frosts to dare?
While still the unbroken bands of sleep
The forest and the coppice keep
In torpid slumber; why do these,
Awak'd before their brother trees,
Start forward on their annual race?
Whence is it, who the cause can trace,
Why from each known appropriate root,
Or scatter'd seed, is seen to shoot
The same unerring plant; the same
In stem, and stalk, and leaf, and frame
Of parts combin'd, and beauteous hue?
Why is the lowly Speedwell blue?
The Strawberry white? the Nettle spread
With yellowish white, or purplish red?
What gives the Pilewort's
golden sheen?
The Hellebores their blossoms green,
One purple tipp'd, the other still
Verdant throughout? the Daffodil,
Why is it robed in yellow bright?
The Violet, now in modest white,
Now in bright purple? Why do some
Breathe on the air a rich perfume,
Of joy and sweetness redolent;
While others yield a vapid scent,
Perchance distasteful? Why of size,
And shape, and native properties,
Diversified? and why they dwell
Some here, some there? while these rebel
'Gainst change of site, why those display
A kind compliance? who can say,
By what nice chymistry they breed
The germ, the seed-chest, and the seed?
Why that small crimson tuft should shoot,
And form the Hazel's kernel'd fruit?
And that green cup should give to view
The scarlet berry of the Yew?
Whence is it neither can produce,
Or tuft or cup, its destin'd use,
Unless on each impregnate head
Their dust those bursting anthers shed?
Whence is it, wafted on the wind,
The dust, according to its kind,
Finds its appropriate place, decreed
To lodge and fructify the seed;
And with the appointed offspring swells
The pulpy cups or harden'd shells?
To all the vegetable kind!
By what mysterious pow'r imprest,
Does every plant, that opes its breast
To gratulate the year's sweet prime,
And glad with fruit the autumnal time,
To bloom and ripe its season know,
And by fix'd laws of being grow?
Why, now that many a lingering flower
Awaits the later vernal hour,
Summer's or autumn's warmer glow;
Do these their charms maturer show
To spring's first wooing, nor forbear
The blasts and chilling frosts to dare?
While still the unbroken bands of sleep
The forest and the coppice keep
In torpid slumber; why do these,
Awak'd before their brother trees,
Start forward on their annual race?
Whence is it, who the cause can trace,
Why from each known appropriate root,
Or scatter'd seed, is seen to shoot
The same unerring plant; the same
In stem, and stalk, and leaf, and frame
Of parts combin'd, and beauteous hue?
Why is the lowly Speedwell blue?
The Strawberry white? the Nettle spread
With yellowish white, or purplish red?
80
The Hellebores their blossoms green,
One purple tipp'd, the other still
Verdant throughout? the Daffodil,
Why is it robed in yellow bright?
The Violet, now in modest white,
Now in bright purple? Why do some
Breathe on the air a rich perfume,
Of joy and sweetness redolent;
While others yield a vapid scent,
Perchance distasteful? Why of size,
And shape, and native properties,
Diversified? and why they dwell
Some here, some there? while these rebel
'Gainst change of site, why those display
A kind compliance? who can say,
By what nice chymistry they breed
The germ, the seed-chest, and the seed?
Why that small crimson tuft should shoot,
And form the Hazel's kernel'd fruit?
And that green cup should give to view
The scarlet berry of the Yew?
Whence is it neither can produce,
Or tuft or cup, its destin'd use,
Unless on each impregnate head
Their dust those bursting anthers shed?
Whence is it, wafted on the wind,
The dust, according to its kind,
Finds its appropriate place, decreed
To lodge and fructify the seed;
And with the appointed offspring swells
The pulpy cups or harden'd shells?
81
Howe'er the process we pursue,
And step by step with anxious view
Explore of each the guiding laws,
The scope, and end, and moving cause:
Tho' sage experience trace the course
Oft times of secondary force;
Yet oft for each gradation fine,
And ever for the first design,
Of ignorance convict, we fall
Back on the primal Cause of all:
And rest on His creative will,
Who all his works with sovereign skill
Idea'd in his perfect mind;
And each, “according to its kind,”
Ordain'd amid the fertile field
To spring, to bloom, its “fruit to yield,”
And “in itself its seed” to bear;
And, as He order'd, “so they were .”
And step by step with anxious view
Explore of each the guiding laws,
The scope, and end, and moving cause:
Tho' sage experience trace the course
Oft times of secondary force;
Yet oft for each gradation fine,
And ever for the first design,
Of ignorance convict, we fall
Back on the primal Cause of all:
And rest on His creative will,
Who all his works with sovereign skill
Idea'd in his perfect mind;
And each, “according to its kind,”
Ordain'd amid the fertile field
To spring, to bloom, its “fruit to yield,”
And “in itself its seed” to bear;
And, as He order'd, “so they were .”
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