Miscellaneous Pieces in Verse and Prose, By Theodosia [i.e. Anne Steele] |
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Ode to Spring, written in March. |
 | Miscellaneous Pieces |  |
Ode to Spring, written in March.
I.
Queen of seasons, lovely spring,What distant happy clime detains
The lingering wheels of thy refulgent car?
What unknown charm detains thee far
From these expecting, mourning plains?
What soft inchantment binds thy zephyr's wing?
Silent on the leafless tree
Hangs the rural muses lyre;
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Waits till thou the song inspire.
The field, the grove, the garden mourn thy stay:
O lovely queen of seasons, come away!
II.
Gentle zephyrs wake and riseSpread your silken wings, and bear
On her bright enamel'd car,
The beauteous nymph to our desiring eyes!
Come beauteous nymph in all thy charms array'd,
And bless the field, and bless the rural shade!
Stern winter with his dreary train
At thy approach shall leave the plain;
And nature o'er the russet mead
Again her verdant mantle spread;
Thy presence shall the grove inspire,
And bid the various, artless choir,
Sweet warbling pour the gratulating strain.
III.
Queen of seasons come away!Time invites, and nature sues;
Fancy spreads her wing to meet thee,
Fancy, handmaid of the muse;
Rural muse that waits to greet thee:
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Silent she deplores thy stay,
Oft she lifts her longing eyes,
And now she ruminates the long-neglected lay.
IV.
Fancy never waiting long,Ever active, ever young,
Now with wild ungovern'd fire
Snatches quick the muses lyre,
And come ye powers of harmony she cries;
Come bring the song to hail your queen;
Bid every tuneful accent rise:
I see afar her radiant car;
She comes! she comes to bless the rural scene!
V.
O'er yon wide extended lawn,See! by gentle zephyrs drawn,
With easy grace her glittering chariot glides:
A thousand gems resplendent from its sides,
Reflect the lustre of the solar ray:
Fair treasure of the vernal morn,
Which bounteous nature bids adorn
With purest elegance the rising day.
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VI.
And now behold the beauteous queen!Drest in a robe of lively green
That cheers the gazing eye:
Green is the ground, but o'er it spread,
Wrought with inimitable skill,
Beyond description's boldest quill,
By nature's animating hand,
A various rich embroidery glows;
And though the work no real error knows,
All with the nicest care exactly plann'd;
The tints in seeming, sweet confusion lie;
Here shines the purple, there the red,
Here yellow, snowy white, and azure's lovely die.
VII.
While irregularly gay,Fancy thus attun'd the lay,
The muse arose (with brow severe)
In all her dignity, and said,
Fancy, stop thy wild career,
Behold, impetuous, heedless maid:
With erring hand would'st thou presume
The laws of nature to controul?
Dost thou accuse the lingering spring,
Who canst not cause one flower to bloom,
Or paint one summer insect's wing?
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With steady course, his sovereign will,
Whose awful mandate bade them roll,
Whose orders nature hears from pole to pole.
VIII.
At his command, returning springShall pour her blessings o'er the plain:
Till then thy airy flights restrain,
Nor touch my darling lyre again
Till nature bids thee sing.
Then shall the fields their charms resume,
The flowery tribes renew their bloom;
Soft warbling from the fragrant spray,
To hail the lovely vernal day,
Sweet music rise from birds of various wing.
Their tribute to the hand divine,
The rural scenes shall gladly raise;
And nature's every voice shall join
The hymn of undissembled praise.
Then shall my long-neglected lyre,
(If nature's Lord the song inspire,)
Awake to rapture every tuneful string.
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