Poems, chiefly pastoral By John Cunningham. The second edition. With the Addition of several pastorals and other pieces |
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ON THE LATE ABSENCE OF MAY.
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 | Poems, chiefly pastoral |  |
175
ON THE LATE ABSENCE OF MAY.
(Written in the Year 1771.)
I.
The rooks in the neighbouring grove
For shelter cry all the long day;
Their huts in the branches above
Are cover'd no longer by May:
For shelter cry all the long day;
Their huts in the branches above
Are cover'd no longer by May:
The birds, that so chearfully sung,
Are silent, or plaintive each tone!
And, as they chirp, low, to their young,
The want of their Goddess bemoan.
Are silent, or plaintive each tone!
And, as they chirp, low, to their young,
The want of their Goddess bemoan.
II.
No daisies, on carpets of green,
O'er Nature's cold bosom are spread!
Not a sweet-briar sprig can be seen,
To finish this wreath for my head:
O'er Nature's cold bosom are spread!
Not a sweet-briar sprig can be seen,
To finish this wreath for my head:
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Some flow'rets, indeed may be found,
But these neither blooming nor gay;
The fairest still sleep in the ground,
And wait for the coming of May.
But these neither blooming nor gay;
The fairest still sleep in the ground,
And wait for the coming of May.
III.
December, perhaps, has purloin'd
Her rich, tho' fantastical geer;
With envy the Months may have join'd,
And jostled her out of the Year:
Her rich, tho' fantastical geer;
With envy the Months may have join'd,
And jostled her out of the Year:
Some shepherds, 'tis true, may repine,
To see their lov'd gardens undrest,
But I—whilst my Phillida's mine,
Shall always have May in my breast.
To see their lov'd gardens undrest,
But I—whilst my Phillida's mine,
Shall always have May in my breast.
| Poems, chiefly pastoral | |