The poems of George Huddesford ... now first collected. Including Salmagundi, Topsy-Turvy, Bubble and Squeak, and Crambe Repetita. With corrections, and original additions |
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WHITSUNTIDE.
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 | The poems of George Huddesford |  |
48
WHITSUNTIDE.
WRITTEN AT WINCHESTER COLLEGE ON THE IMMEDIATE APPROACH OF THE HOLIDAYS.
Hence, thou fur-clad Winter, fly!
Sire of shivering Poverty!
Who, as thou creep'st with chilblains lame
To the crowded charcoal flame,
With chattering teeth and ague cold,
Scarce thy shaking sides canst hold
While Thou draw'st the deep cough out:
God of Foot-ball's noisy rout,
Tumult loud and boist'rous play,
The dangerous slide, the snow-ball fray.
Sire of shivering Poverty!
Who, as thou creep'st with chilblains lame
To the crowded charcoal flame,
With chattering teeth and ague cold,
Scarce thy shaking sides canst hold
While Thou draw'st the deep cough out:
God of Foot-ball's noisy rout,
Tumult loud and boist'rous play,
The dangerous slide, the snow-ball fray.
But come, thou genial Son of Spring,
Whitsuntide! and with thee bring
Cricket, nimble boy and light,
In slippers red and drawers white,
Who o'er the nicely-measur'd land
Ranges around his comely band,
Alert to intercept each blow,
Each motion of the wary foe.
Whitsuntide! and with thee bring
Cricket, nimble boy and light,
In slippers red and drawers white,
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Ranges around his comely band,
Alert to intercept each blow,
Each motion of the wary foe.
Or patient take thy quiet stand,
The angle trembling in thy hand,
And mark, with penetrative eye,
Kissing the wave the frequent fly,
Where the trout, with eager spring,
Forms the many-circled ring,
And, leaping from the silver tide,
Turns to the sun his speckled side.
The angle trembling in thy hand,
And mark, with penetrative eye,
Kissing the wave the frequent fly,
Where the trout, with eager spring,
Forms the many-circled ring,
And, leaping from the silver tide,
Turns to the sun his speckled side.
Or lead where Health, a naiad fair,
With rosy cheek and dripping hair,
From the sultry noon-tide beam,
Laves in Itchin's crystal-stream.
With rosy cheek and dripping hair,
From the sultry noon-tide beam,
Laves in Itchin's crystal-stream.
Thy votaries, rang'd in order due,
To-morrow's wish'd-for dawn shall view
Greeting the radiant star of light
With Matin Hymn and early rite:
E'en now, these hallow'd haunts among,
To Thee we raise the Choral Song;
And swell with echoing minstrelsy
The strain of joy and liberty.
To-morrow's wish'd-for dawn shall view
Greeting the radiant star of light
With Matin Hymn and early rite:
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To Thee we raise the Choral Song;
And swell with echoing minstrelsy
The strain of joy and liberty.
If pleasures such as these await
Thy genial reign, with heart elate
For Thee I throw my gown aside,
And hail thy coming, Whitsuntide.
Thy genial reign, with heart elate
For Thee I throw my gown aside,
And hail thy coming, Whitsuntide.
| The poems of George Huddesford | |