 | Odes |  |
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III. An Autumnal ODE .
Autumn, in rose of russet dye,
Be thou my pensive theme!
No fleeting cloud disturbs the sky,
No gale the polish'd stream.
Be thou my pensive theme!
No fleeting cloud disturbs the sky,
No gale the polish'd stream.
And, lo, the villas and the farms,
How beauteous in decay!
Scarce more a summer-landscape charms,
With living verdure gay.
How beauteous in decay!
Scarce more a summer-landscape charms,
With living verdure gay.
Now to the glimm'ring sun the vines
Their purple clusters hold;
And now the pendant apple shines
With coral and with gold.
Their purple clusters hold;
And now the pendant apple shines
With coral and with gold.
And rooks distend their clam'rous throats,
As thro' the sky they rove;
And the lone redbreast tunes his notes,
Sole warbler of the grove.
As thro' the sky they rove;
And the lone redbreast tunes his notes,
Sole warbler of the grove.
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Say, gentlest of the feather'd kind,
Whom no rude hand annoys;
Does thy sweet music fill the wind
With sorrows or with joys?
Whom no rude hand annoys;
Does thy sweet music fill the wind
With sorrows or with joys?
Dost thou admire a tarnish'd thorn,
That marks the drooping year?
Or chide the dew-besprinkled Morn,
And Winter, frowning near?
That marks the drooping year?
Or chide the dew-besprinkled Morn,
And Winter, frowning near?
Prophetic, mourn the dreary hours,
When to our gazing eyes,
As by enchantment, spires and tow'rs,
And wider heav'ns, shall rise?
When to our gazing eyes,
As by enchantment, spires and tow'rs,
And wider heav'ns, shall rise?
Ah! when impetuous storms descend,
And bow the leafless tree,
Beneath my roof there dwells a friend
To innocence and thee.
And bow the leafless tree,
Beneath my roof there dwells a friend
To innocence and thee.
There, undisturb'd, my little guest
Shall peck his simple food;
And, when soft passions warm his breast,
Fly to the tuneful wood.
Shall peck his simple food;
And, when soft passions warm his breast,
Fly to the tuneful wood.
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But, oh! that object pains my sight,
And tears my very heart!
A swallow, twitt'ring for its flight,
Impatient to depart.
And tears my very heart!
A swallow, twitt'ring for its flight,
Impatient to depart.
When laughing Summer cheers the ground
With zephyrs in her train,
Which of the plumy race is found
More constant to the plain?
With zephyrs in her train,
Which of the plumy race is found
More constant to the plain?
But soon there comes a nipping air,
And all the tribe are gone—
Just emblem of the wrongs I bear,
Condemn'd to sigh alone.
And all the tribe are gone—
Just emblem of the wrongs I bear,
Condemn'd to sigh alone.
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