John Clare: The Midsummer Cushion Edited by R. K. R. Thornton & Anne Tibble |
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THE SKY LARK LEAVING HER NEST |
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 | John Clare: The Midsummer Cushion |  |
265
THE SKY LARK LEAVING HER NEST
Right happy bird so full of mirth
Mounting & mounting still more high
To meet morns sunshine in the sky
Ere yet it smiles on earth
Mounting & mounting still more high
To meet morns sunshine in the sky
Ere yet it smiles on earth
How often I delight to stand
Listening a minutes length away
Where summer spreads her green array
By wheat or barley land
Listening a minutes length away
Where summer spreads her green array
By wheat or barley land
To see thee with a sudden start
The green & placid herbage leave
& in mid air a vision weave
For joys delighted heart
The green & placid herbage leave
& in mid air a vision weave
For joys delighted heart
Shedding to heaven a vagrant mirth
When silence husheth other themes
& woods in their dark splendour dreams
Like heaviness on earth
When silence husheth other themes
& woods in their dark splendour dreams
Like heaviness on earth
My mind enjoys the happy sight
To watch thee to the clear blue sky
& when I downward turn my eye
Earth glows with lonely light
To watch thee to the clear blue sky
& when I downward turn my eye
Earth glows with lonely light
Then nearer comes thy happy sounds
& downward drops thy little wing
& now the valleys hear thee sing
& all the dewy grounds
& downward drops thy little wing
& now the valleys hear thee sing
& all the dewy grounds
Gleam into joy now from the eye
Thourt dropping sudden as a stone
& now thourt in the wheat alone
& still the circle of the sky
Thourt dropping sudden as a stone
& now thourt in the wheat alone
& still the circle of the sky
& abscent like a pleasure gone
Though many come within the way
Thy little song to peeping day
Is still remembered on
Though many come within the way
Thy little song to peeping day
Is still remembered on
For who that crosses fields of corn
Where sky larks start to meet the day
But feels more pleasure on his way
Upon a summers morn
Where sky larks start to meet the day
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Upon a summers morn
Tis one of those heart cheering sights
In green earths rural chronicles
That upon every memory dwells
Among home fed delights
In green earths rural chronicles
That upon every memory dwells
Among home fed delights
| John Clare: The Midsummer Cushion | |