 | John Clare: The Midsummer Cushion |  |
269
THE MEADOW GRASS
Delicious is a leisure hour
Among the sweet green fields to be
So sweet indeed I have no power
To tell the joys I feel & see
See here the meadows how they lie
So sunny level & so green
The grass is waving ancle high
A sweeter rest was never seen
Among the sweet green fields to be
So sweet indeed I have no power
To tell the joys I feel & see
See here the meadows how they lie
So sunny level & so green
The grass is waving ancle high
A sweeter rest was never seen
I look around & drop me down
& feel delight to be alone
Cares hardly dare to show a frown
While mays sweet leisure is my own
Joy half a stranger comes to me
& gives me thoughts to profit bye
I think how happy worlds must be
That dwell above that peaceful sky
& feel delight to be alone
Cares hardly dare to show a frown
While mays sweet leisure is my own
Joy half a stranger comes to me
& gives me thoughts to profit bye
I think how happy worlds must be
That dwell above that peaceful sky
That happy sky with here & there
A little cloud that would express
By the slow motions that they wear
They live with peace & quietness
I think so as I see them glide
Thoughts earthly tumults can t destroy
So calm so soft so smooth they ride
Im sure their errands must be joy
A little cloud that would express
By the slow motions that they wear
They live with peace & quietness
I think so as I see them glide
Thoughts earthly tumults can t destroy
So calm so soft so smooth they ride
Im sure their errands must be joy
The sky is all serene & mild
The sun is gleaming far away
So sweet so rich—the very child
Would feel its maker brought the may
For heavens ways are pleasant ways
Of silent quietness & peace
& he who musing hither strays
Finds all in such a scene as this
The sun is gleaming far away
So sweet so rich—the very child
Would feel its maker brought the may
For heavens ways are pleasant ways
Of silent quietness & peace
& he who musing hither strays
Finds all in such a scene as this
Where no strife comes but in the songs
Of birds half frantic in their glee
Hid from the rude worlds many wrongs
How can they else but happy be
In places where the summer seems
Entirely out of troubles way
Where joy oer out door leisure dreams
As if twas sunday every day
Of birds half frantic in their glee
Hid from the rude worlds many wrongs
How can they else but happy be
In places where the summer seems
Entirely out of troubles way
270
As if twas sunday every day
For nature here in self delight
Bestows her richest gifts—the green
Luxuriance all around—the light
Seems more then any common scene—
& yet appears no looker on
Left to herself & solitude
I seem myself the only one
Intruding on her happy mood
Bestows her richest gifts—the green
Luxuriance all around—the light
Seems more then any common scene—
& yet appears no looker on
Left to herself & solitude
I seem myself the only one
Intruding on her happy mood
Intruding as of wont to meet
That joyousness she throws around
To feel the grass beneath my feet
Heart cheered to hear its brushing sound
Pit patting at ones legs to feel
Their seeded heads then bounce away
Theres somthing more then joy to steal
A walk oer meadows in the may
That joyousness she throws around
To feel the grass beneath my feet
Heart cheered to hear its brushing sound
Pit patting at ones legs to feel
Their seeded heads then bounce away
Theres somthing more then joy to steal
A walk oer meadows in the may
A noise now comes on joys repose
That mays right welcome visit brings
Up from the bush the blackbird goes
The fanned leaves dance beneath his wings
& up with yet a louder noise
Woodpiegons flusker—roadway cows
Brouze there—& soon the herdboy shows
His head amid the shaking boughs
That mays right welcome visit brings
Up from the bush the blackbird goes
The fanned leaves dance beneath his wings
& up with yet a louder noise
Woodpiegons flusker—roadway cows
Brouze there—& soon the herdboy shows
His head amid the shaking boughs
Theres somthing more to fill the mind
Then words can paint to ears & eyes
A calmness quiet loves to find
In these green summer reveries
A freshness giving youth to age
A health to pain & troubles drear
The world has nought but wars to wage
Peace comes & makes her dwelling here
Then words can paint to ears & eyes
A calmness quiet loves to find
In these green summer reveries
A freshness giving youth to age
A health to pain & troubles drear
The world has nought but wars to wage
Peace comes & makes her dwelling here
I feel so calm I seem to find
A world I never felt before
& heaven fills my clouded mind
As though it would be dull no more
An endless sunshine glows around
A meadow like a waveless sea
Glows green in many a level ground
A very paradise to me
A world I never felt before
& heaven fills my clouded mind
As though it would be dull no more
An endless sunshine glows around
271
Glows green in many a level ground
A very paradise to me
Tis sweeter than the sweetest book
That ever met the poets eye
To read in this delightful nook
The scenes that round about me lie
& yet they are but common things
Green hedges bowering oer the grass
& one old tree that stoops & flings
Its boughs oer water smooth as glass
That ever met the poets eye
To read in this delightful nook
The scenes that round about me lie
& yet they are but common things
Green hedges bowering oer the grass
& one old tree that stoops & flings
Its boughs oer water smooth as glass
& on a ledge of gravel crags
Those golden blooms so nobly towers
Though but the yellow water flags
Theyre fine enough for garden flowers
& over head the breadth of sky
Goes spreading gladness everywhere
Yet oer this meadow grass to lie
No where so happy seems as here
Those golden blooms so nobly towers
Though but the yellow water flags
Theyre fine enough for garden flowers
& over head the breadth of sky
Goes spreading gladness everywhere
Yet oer this meadow grass to lie
No where so happy seems as here
| John Clare: The Midsummer Cushion | |