 | Poems on Several Occasions |  |
119
TO THE GRASSHOPPER.
Imitated From REN. RAPIN.
Happy Insect! that dost lay
Couch'd beneath the verdant Blade,
Idly singing all the Day,
Thro' the cooling, silent Shade.
Couch'd beneath the verdant Blade,
Idly singing all the Day,
Thro' the cooling, silent Shade.
Whether, perch'd on Flow'rs, you sip
Pearly Drops of dewy Rain,
Or delight'st to hop and skip
O'er the waving, grassy Plain.
Pearly Drops of dewy Rain,
Or delight'st to hop and skip
O'er the waving, grassy Plain.
120
Whether singing you rejoyce
The gentle-whistling Reeds among,
Or excell the Shepherd's Voice,
Whom you challenge by your Song.
The gentle-whistling Reeds among,
Or excell the Shepherd's Voice,
Whom you challenge by your Song.
Whether by the Brooks, you chear,
With your pretty, chirping Lay,
The tired Swain, or lab'ring Steer,
In the sultry Heat of Day.
With your pretty, chirping Lay,
The tired Swain, or lab'ring Steer,
In the sultry Heat of Day.
Whether Heaven min'string Sheds
Dewy Food in nectar Showers,
Or adorns your verdant Bed
With pearly Gems and fragrant Flowers.
Dewy Food in nectar Showers,
Or adorns your verdant Bed
With pearly Gems and fragrant Flowers.
Little Tenant of the Field!
Be propitious to my Theme,
Who, in Love to you, will build
A Temple of Immortal Fame.
Be propitious to my Theme,
Who, in Love to you, will build
A Temple of Immortal Fame.
121
A lasting Monument I'll make,
Not of Stone, that soon decays,
The soft-complaining Lyre I'll take,
And warble out in Verse your Praise;
Of you I first learnt how to sing,
And make the Woodland Ecchoes ring.
Not of Stone, that soon decays,
The soft-complaining Lyre I'll take,
And warble out in Verse your Praise;
Of you I first learnt how to sing,
And make the Woodland Ecchoes ring.
| Poems on Several Occasions | |