The poetical works of William Nicholson With a memoir by Malcolm M'L. Harper ... Fourth edition |
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INVOCATION TO SPRING, 1812. |
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 | The poetical works of William Nicholson |  |
INVOCATION TO SPRING, 1812.
Come, sweet smiling Spring, with thy life-cheering bloom,
Why so timid and shy to appear?
No dew-droppëd blossoms the morning perfume,
No green glossy garments the forests resume,
Though time hurries by the short year.
Why so timid and shy to appear?
No dew-droppëd blossoms the morning perfume,
No green glossy garments the forests resume,
Though time hurries by the short year.
I long for the corn-craik and cuckoo's loud notes,
To enliven our grey hawthorn bowers;
The lightsome white lambs, as they frisk round the cots,
The seedsman's slow hum as he scatters his oats,
Thy zephyrs and soft falling showers.
To enliven our grey hawthorn bowers;
The lightsome white lambs, as they frisk round the cots,
The seedsman's slow hum as he scatters his oats,
Thy zephyrs and soft falling showers.
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But the dark tyrant, Winter, with thin hoary hair,
Breathes bleak through the valley and wild:
The half silent songsters forget now to pair,
They wait for thy train, but no vestige is there,
Save the primrose, thy first lonely child.
Breathes bleak through the valley and wild:
The half silent songsters forget now to pair,
They wait for thy train, but no vestige is there,
Save the primrose, thy first lonely child.
Thus mourns sad Britannia, with sorrow and tears,
For her sons that are dragged to afar;
She waits the nymph Peace; but, lo! what appears!
Whole Europe convulsed, for a series of years,
With intestine grim bloodshed and war!
For her sons that are dragged to afar;
She waits the nymph Peace; but, lo! what appears!
Whole Europe convulsed, for a series of years,
With intestine grim bloodshed and war!
So fares't with our prospects in life's early dawn,
While Hope in gay trappings is drest;
And Love linked with Health, lightly trips o'er the land
We gaze on the phantom, the curtain is drawn,
And the bright beams of noon overcast.
While Hope in gay trappings is drest;
And Love linked with Health, lightly trips o'er the land
We gaze on the phantom, the curtain is drawn,
And the bright beams of noon overcast.
| The poetical works of William Nicholson | |