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171
WINTER.
—Or when the north his fleecy store
Drove thro' the sky,
I saw grim Nature's visage hoar
Struck thy young eye.—
Burns.
Drove thro' the sky,
I saw grim Nature's visage hoar
Struck thy young eye.—
Burns.
Winter, thou type of hoary age,
Chill-shivering in thy peevish rage!
In Nature's book the whitest page—
The final leaf,
O'er which the moralizing sage
May pore his grief!
Chill-shivering in thy peevish rage!
In Nature's book the whitest page—
The final leaf,
O'er which the moralizing sage
May pore his grief!
I view thee with a placid eye,
As one beholds his destiny
Without the power therefrom to fly,
Had he the will;
I view thy sun-forsaken sky,
And aspect chill.
As one beholds his destiny
Without the power therefrom to fly,
Had he the will;
I view thy sun-forsaken sky,
And aspect chill.
I view thee fast in sullen chains,
Forged where the icy monarch reigns
O'er dreary Greenland's drifted plains
Of lasting snows;
I view thy horrifying pains,
And mighty throes.
Forged where the icy monarch reigns
O'er dreary Greenland's drifted plains
Of lasting snows;
I view thy horrifying pains,
And mighty throes.
I listen Boreas' sounding key,
And mark the smothering tempest flee,
Wild-wreathing over shrub and tree
The wildering drift;
And thro' the roof of Poverty
Still-falling sift.
And mark the smothering tempest flee,
Wild-wreathing over shrub and tree
The wildering drift;
And thro' the roof of Poverty
Still-falling sift.
Oh, bitter power! I beg thee spare
The famished wretch, whose feeble prayer,
Moaned from the fit abode of care—
Wan Mis'ry's den,
Tells of the cold unfeeling air
Of brother men.
The famished wretch, whose feeble prayer,
Moaned from the fit abode of care—
Wan Mis'ry's den,
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Of brother men.
Ye fostered sons of sordid ease!
Whose chilling selfishness would freeze
The generous heart!—would ye appease
The troubled breast?
Does rigid Conscience never seize
Hold on your rest?
Whose chilling selfishness would freeze
The generous heart!—would ye appease
The troubled breast?
Does rigid Conscience never seize
Hold on your rest?
Has never willing Fancy led
You from your tables richly spread,
Where Luxury heaps up her bread,
And Plenty carves,
To where, by pitying hand unfed,
Pale Famine starves?
You from your tables richly spread,
Where Luxury heaps up her bread,
And Plenty carves,
To where, by pitying hand unfed,
Pale Famine starves?
Has never thoughtful Pity laid
Her hand upon your hearts, and bade
You look from where, in wealth arrayed,
Warm Comfort shines,
To where, o'er embers half-decayed,
Want shivering pines?
Her hand upon your hearts, and bade
You look from where, in wealth arrayed,
Warm Comfort shines,
To where, o'er embers half-decayed,
Want shivering pines?
Oh! let it move your hearts of stone
To hear the widow'd mother's moan,
And starving orphans, all as one,
Loud-wailing cry!
For haply ye may still the groan,
And sobbing sigh.
To hear the widow'd mother's moan,
And starving orphans, all as one,
Loud-wailing cry!
For haply ye may still the groan,
And sobbing sigh.
Lo! in yon savage wilds afar,
Where Nature's suffering orphans are,
Who wage with Fate eternal war —
Who knows their wo,
Or sees the deep disfiguring scar—
The ill-healed blow?
Where Nature's suffering orphans are,
Who wage with Fate eternal war —
Who knows their wo,
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The ill-healed blow?
O Winter, bear their woes in mind!
Deal not on them thy fury blind;
Extermination sure will find
In them a prey
When e'en thy cold and cutting wind
Bears them away.
Deal not on them thy fury blind;
Extermination sure will find
In them a prey
When e'en thy cold and cutting wind
Bears them away.
If happiness on earth be found
Sure 't is by him who tills the ground;
For whom in one mysterious round
Revolves the year,
And wheels thro' boundless space profound
This wondrous sphere.
Sure 't is by him who tills the ground;
For whom in one mysterious round
Revolves the year,
And wheels thro' boundless space profound
This wondrous sphere.
When night's black curtains, wide unroll'd,
The hemisphere in darkness hold,
He hears the tempest driving cold,
Yet harmless by,
E'en to his flocks that in the fold
Close-huddling lie.
The hemisphere in darkness hold,
He hears the tempest driving cold,
Yet harmless by,
E'en to his flocks that in the fold
Close-huddling lie.
For him returns light-hearted Spring,
With richest flowers gay blossoming;
For him the little songsters sing
Sweet in the bough,
And hail him blithe on flitting wing,
Above the plough.
With richest flowers gay blossoming;
For him the little songsters sing
Sweet in the bough,
And hail him blithe on flitting wing,
Above the plough.
For him the Summer suns return,
And thro' the fiery solstice burn;
For him does vegetation spurn
The lowly earth—
The juicy briar and scented fern,
Of earliest birth.
And thro' the fiery solstice burn;
For him does vegetation spurn
The lowly earth—
The juicy briar and scented fern,
Of earliest birth.
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For him does ripened Autumn come,
Rejoicing in the harvest-home,
And tankards crowned with hoary foam,
Foretokening cheer;
Out-spreading from her airy loom
Her carpet sere.
Rejoicing in the harvest-home,
And tankards crowned with hoary foam,
Foretokening cheer;
Out-spreading from her airy loom
Her carpet sere.
On him wild Winter angry beats
With blinding snows and piercing sleets;
But, oh, with what true joy he greets
The fireside bright,
When day before dark night retreats,
In sore affright!
With blinding snows and piercing sleets;
But, oh, with what true joy he greets
The fireside bright,
When day before dark night retreats,
In sore affright!
Oh! had I as the will the means
To paint how well the fireside screens
The soul enamored of its scenes,
From world's mad hive;
How Memory o'er the hearth-stone leans
Contemplative.
To paint how well the fireside screens
The soul enamored of its scenes,
From world's mad hive;
How Memory o'er the hearth-stone leans
Contemplative.
How there domestic bliss invites;
How Fancy wings from thence her flights,
And thro' some far-off land incites
The mind to roam,
Yet always from her tour alights,
More pleased with home.
How Fancy wings from thence her flights,
And thro' some far-off land incites
The mind to roam,
Yet always from her tour alights,
More pleased with home.
Away with pomp and kingly pride!
Far hence in moody hauteur stride;
Your furry vestments, best applied,
Are put to shame,
When in the cotters chimney wide
Roars the red flame.
Far hence in moody hauteur stride;
Your furry vestments, best applied,
Are put to shame,
When in the cotters chimney wide
Roars the red flame.
Before the hearth, encircled half,
Now social mirth excites the laugh;
Or grey-haired age with well-worn staff
Points back afar,
And says his days have flown like chaff,
He knows not where.
Now social mirth excites the laugh;
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Points back afar,
And says his days have flown like chaff,
He knows not where.
He tells the tale of olden time,
When he was young or in his prime;
The moral points the road to crime,
And at the end
The ladder which the wretch must climb
And hell-ward wend.
When he was young or in his prime;
The moral points the road to crime,
And at the end
The ladder which the wretch must climb
And hell-ward wend.
The firm division line he draws
'Twixt Vice unyoked and Virtue's laws;
Shows what a pit-fall faithless straws
May oft times hide,
When 'neath our feet dread Ruin's jaws
Gape black and wide.
'Twixt Vice unyoked and Virtue's laws;
Shows what a pit-fall faithless straws
May oft times hide,
When 'neath our feet dread Ruin's jaws
Gape black and wide.
By turns the group aloud peruse
The weekly magazine of news;
Or to the scene-enamored Muse
List while she sings;
Or see in history's faithful views
Time's hidden things.
The weekly magazine of news;
Or to the scene-enamored Muse
List while she sings;
Or see in history's faithful views
Time's hidden things.
Perhaps a neighbor happens in,
With cronies dear his yarns to spin;
Perchance the burnished windows win
The powdered form
Of traveller, from the mingled din
Of wind and storm.
With cronies dear his yarns to spin;
Perchance the burnished windows win
The powdered form
Of traveller, from the mingled din
Of wind and storm.
He tells the perils of the day;
How far he missed the proper way,
And wandered many a mile astray
From the right road,
While sore fatigue upon him lay—
A grevious load.
How far he missed the proper way,
And wandered many a mile astray
From the right road,
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A grevious load.
He brings the news from distant town;
How rents are up and stocks are down;
How politics have recent grown
Wild with discord;—
Till see! the wholesome viands crown
The oaken board.
How rents are up and stocks are down;
How politics have recent grown
Wild with discord;—
Till see! the wholesome viands crown
The oaken board.
O, hospitality sincere!
Thou dryer of the bitter tear
Which cold Misfortune's wind severe
Brings in the eye!
Thine is a heart-ease far too dear
For wealth to buy.
Thou dryer of the bitter tear
Which cold Misfortune's wind severe
Brings in the eye!
Thine is a heart-ease far too dear
For wealth to buy.
Haply the bard of thee who sings,
Amid his weary wanderings,
Has found thee—not in courts of kings,
Nor halls of pride,
From whence proud wealth, all-potent, flings
Dominion wide;
Amid his weary wanderings,
Has found thee—not in courts of kings,
Nor halls of pride,
From whence proud wealth, all-potent, flings
Dominion wide;
No!—in the homely cottage pale
You welcomed him with hearty hail,
And did officiously regale
Him on the best;
And showed him, wearied in the trail,
A place of rest.
You welcomed him with hearty hail,
And did officiously regale
Him on the best;
And showed him, wearied in the trail,
A place of rest.
But hark! the time-piece chimes the hour,
When Morpheus, with acknowledged power,
Bears to his dream-bewildered bower
The minds of men,
Till Phœbus gives Aurora's dower
To morn again.
When Morpheus, with acknowledged power,
Bears to his dream-bewildered bower
The minds of men,
Till Phœbus gives Aurora's dower
To morn again.
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Now each suspends his evening care
While heaven-ward goes the fervent prayer;
In blessings sought is sure to share
The stranger guest;
Then to their couches they repair,
And not unblest!
While heaven-ward goes the fervent prayer;
In blessings sought is sure to share
The stranger guest;
Then to their couches they repair,
And not unblest!
Winter, of thee the Muse is proud;
E'en when you wake the tempest loud,
And demons in a bellowing crowd
At midnight run;
Or glimmers thro' the leaden cloud
The tarnished sun.
E'en when you wake the tempest loud,
And demons in a bellowing crowd
At midnight run;
Or glimmers thro' the leaden cloud
The tarnished sun.
When morn again unfolds to view
The cheerless wastes of deathly hue;
When the choked rill, the deep drifts thro',
Hoarse-gurgling runs,
And seems with feeling man to sue
For genial suns—
The cheerless wastes of deathly hue;
When the choked rill, the deep drifts thro',
Hoarse-gurgling runs,
And seems with feeling man to sue
For genial suns—
'T is oft of life a striking scene!
But Spring with soul-enlivening mien
Ere long will clothe the earth in green,
And free the brook.
Then, mortal, here a lesson glean,
And forward look.
But Spring with soul-enlivening mien
Ere long will clothe the earth in green,
And free the brook.
Then, mortal, here a lesson glean,
And forward look.
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