 | The seasons, in four pastorals |  |
IV.WINTER.
I
When the trees are all bare, not a leaf to be seen,And the meadows their beauty have lost;
When Nature's disrob'd of her mantle of green,
And the streams are fast bound with the frost:
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II
While the peasant inactive stands shivering with cold,As bleak the winds northernly blow;
And the innocent flocks run for warmth to the fold,
With their fleeces besprinkled with snow:
III
In the yard, when the cattle are fodder'd with straw,And they send forth their breath in a stream;
And the neat-looking dairy-maid sees she must thaw
Flakes of ice that she finds in the cream:
IV
When the sweet country-maiden, as fresh as a rose,As she carelessly trips often slides,
And the rusticks laugh loud, if by falling she shows
All the charms that her modesty hides:
V
When the lads and the lasses for company join'd,In a crowd round the embers are met,
Talk of fairies and witches that ride on the wind,
And of ghosts, till they're all in a sweat:
VI
Heav'n grant, in this season, it may be my lot,With the nymph whom I love and admire;
While the icicles hang from the eaves of my cot,
I may thither in safety retire!
VII
Where in neatness and quiet—and free from surprize,We may live, and no hardships endure;
Nor feel any turbulent passions arise,
But such as each other may cure!
| The seasons, in four pastorals | |