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Works of the Hon. and Very Rev. William Herbert

... Excepting those on botany and natural history. With additions and corrections by the author

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204

THE MORNING SONG.
[_]

FROM THE GERMAN BY GESNER.

Hail, orient Sun, auspicious light!
Hail, new-born orb of day!
Lo, from behind the wood-crown'd height
Breaks forth thy glittering ray.
Behold it sparkle in the stream,
And on the dew-drop shine!
O may sweet Joy's enlivening beam
Mix his pure rays with thine!
The Zephyrs now with frolic wing
Their rosy beds forsake;
And, shedding round the sweets of spring,
Their drowsy comrades wake.
Soft Sleep and all his airy forms
Fly from the dawning day:
Like little loves O may their swarms
On Chloe's bosom play!
Ye Zephyr's, haste; from every flow'r
The sweetest perfumes take;
And bear them hence to Chloe's bow'r;
For soon the maid must wake!
And hovering round her fragrant bed
In breezes call my fair;
Go, frolic round her graceful head,
And scent her golden hair!

205

Then gently whisper in her ear,
That, ere day lit the skies,
By the soft murmuring fountain here
I breathed her name in sighs.