Miscellaneous Poems :: :: University of Virginia Library

There's soft green moss beside the brook;
There's golden fruitage on the bough;
Earth casts to Heaven a grateful look,
And Wisdom comes . . we know not how.

SPRING.

To life the vernal flow'rets wake,
In countless bands o'er hill and dale:
Winds of the West! your slumbers break,
And fold them in your dewy veil.

SUMMER.

Mid blue unclouded skies above,
Yon lustrous arch of light is seen;
And, touch'd with roseate hues of love,
Earth spreads her robe of emerald green.

AUTUMN.

The woods their darkening foliage bow,
As round the fitful breeze is roll'd;
And mark! how flames yon moorland's brow
With all the autumn's wealth of gold.

WINTER.

The hills uplift their helms of snow,
And high their glitt'ring lances wield;
The river stays his sullen flow,
And sleeps upon his icy shield.

L'ENVOI.

So speed the duteous hours along,
From orb to orb, their march sublime;
Declaring, as in choral song,
The sacred destinies of time.

The varying day, the changeful scene,
Proclaim the fated world of strife;
Mid fadeless groves, and skies serene,
The immortal spirit finds its life.

For what is Spring, or Summer's glow,
Or purple Autumn's rich decline,
And what the Winter's crown of snow,
If but the eternal year is thine?

Still Nature through each change retains
The primal law that knows no fall;
And still essential Love remains,
In one communion binding all.