 | Collected poems of Herman Melville |  |
261
WHEN FORTH THE SHEPHERD LEADS THE FLOCK
When forth the shepherd leads the flock,
White lamb and dingy ewe,
And there's dibbling in the garden,
Then the world begins anew.
White lamb and dingy ewe,
And there's dibbling in the garden,
Then the world begins anew.
When Buttercups make bright
The meadows up and down,
The Golden Age returns to fields
If never to the town.
The meadows up and down,
The Golden Age returns to fields
If never to the town.
When stir the freshening airs
Forerunning showers to meads,
And Dandelions prance,
Then Heart-Free shares the dance—
A Wilding with the Weeds!
Forerunning showers to meads,
And Dandelions prance,
Then Heart-Free shares the dance—
A Wilding with the Weeds!
But alack and alas
For things of wilding feature!
Since hearsed was Pan
Ill befalls each profitless creature—
Profitless to man!
For things of wilding feature!
Since hearsed was Pan
Ill befalls each profitless creature—
Profitless to man!
Buttercup and Dandelion,
Wildings, and the rest,
Commoners and holiday-makers,
Note them in one test:
The farmers scout them,
Yea, and would rout them,
Hay is better without them—
Tares in the grass!
The florists pooh-pooh them;
Few but children do woo them,
Love them, reprieve them,
Retrieve and inweave them,
Never sighing—Alas!
Wildings, and the rest,
Commoners and holiday-makers,
Note them in one test:
262
Yea, and would rout them,
Hay is better without them—
Tares in the grass!
The florists pooh-pooh them;
Few but children do woo them,
Love them, reprieve them,
Retrieve and inweave them,
Never sighing—Alas!
| Collected poems of Herman Melville | |