The Works of The Ettrick Shepherd Centenary Edition. With a Memoir of the Author, by the Rev. Thomas Thomson ... Poems and Life. With Many Illustrative Engravings [by James Hogg] |
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 | The Works of The Ettrick Shepherd |  |
Morning.
Waken, drowsy slumberer, waken!
Over gorse, green broom, and braken,
From her sieve of silken blue
Dawning sifts her silver dew,
Hangs the emerald on the willow,
Lights her lamp below the billow,
Bends the brier and branchy braken—
Waken, drowsy slumberer, waken!
Over gorse, green broom, and braken,
From her sieve of silken blue
Dawning sifts her silver dew,
Hangs the emerald on the willow,
Lights her lamp below the billow,
Bends the brier and branchy braken—
Waken, drowsy slumberer, waken!
Waken, drowsy slumberer, waken!
Deep the moon her draught has taken
Of the babbling rivulet sheen,
Far beyond the Ochil green.
From her gauzy veil on high
Trills the laverock's melody;
Round and round, from glen and grove,
Pour a thousand hymns to love;
Harps the quail amid the clover,
O'er the moon-fern whews the plover;
Bat has hid, and heath-cock crowed,
Courser neighed, and cattle lowed,
Kid and lamb their lair forsaken;—
Waken, drowsy slumberer, waken!
Deep the moon her draught has taken
Of the babbling rivulet sheen,
Far beyond the Ochil green.
From her gauzy veil on high
Trills the laverock's melody;
Round and round, from glen and grove,
Pour a thousand hymns to love;
Harps the quail amid the clover,
O'er the moon-fern whews the plover;
Bat has hid, and heath-cock crowed,
Courser neighed, and cattle lowed,
Kid and lamb their lair forsaken;—
Waken, drowsy slumberer, waken!
See how light the wood-fly dances!
Swifter still the dawn advances;
Streaming in her eagle talon
Waves her bright and broad gonfalon;
Specks of purple, sprigs of yellow,
Roof her radiant light umbrella;
Pretty limner! see her hue
Painted on the amber dew,
On the leaf of beech and willow,
On the lake and sleepy billow;—
Rouse thee, slumberer, from thy pillow!
Swifter still the dawn advances;
Streaming in her eagle talon
Waves her bright and broad gonfalon;
Specks of purple, sprigs of yellow,
Roof her radiant light umbrella;
Pretty limner! see her hue
Painted on the amber dew,
On the leaf of beech and willow,
On the lake and sleepy billow;—
Rouse thee, slumberer, from thy pillow!
Human life is but a day;
Gay its morn, but short as gay;
Day of evil—day of sorrow!
Hope—even hope can paint no morrow.
Steeped in sloth or passions boiling,
Noon shall find thee faint and toiling:
Evening rears her mantle dreary;
Evening finds thee pale and weary.
Prospects blasted,—aims misguided,—
For the future ill provided,—
Murmuring, worn, enfeebled, shaking—
Days of sorrow, nights of waking—
Yield thy soul unto the Giver;
Bow thy head, and sleep for ever!
Rise, O rise, to work betake thee!
Wake thee, drowsy slumberer, wake thee!
Gay its morn, but short as gay;
Day of evil—day of sorrow!
Hope—even hope can paint no morrow.
Steeped in sloth or passions boiling,
Noon shall find thee faint and toiling:
Evening rears her mantle dreary;
Evening finds thee pale and weary.
Prospects blasted,—aims misguided,—
For the future ill provided,—
Murmuring, worn, enfeebled, shaking—
Days of sorrow, nights of waking—
Yield thy soul unto the Giver;
Bow thy head, and sleep for ever!
Rise, O rise, to work betake thee!
Wake thee, drowsy slumberer, wake thee!
| The Works of The Ettrick Shepherd | |