Musa Burschicosa A Book of Songs for Students and University Men. By John Stuart Blackie |
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STUDENTS' MAY-SONG. |
 | Musa Burschicosa |  |
122
STUDENTS' MAY-SONG.
Blithe birds are singing now,
Light clouds are winging now,
Easter bells ringing now
Anthems of glee!
Come from your dusty nooks,
Fling away musty books,
Hear how the lusty rooks
Caw merrily!
List to the happy note,
Trolled from the mavis' throat,
Where breezy zephyrs float,
Cradling the trees!
Broad seas are glancing,
Bright waves are dancing,
Light skiffs advancing
With undulant ease!
All things are buoyant and bright with the May,
All things rejoice in the fresh-streaming ray;
Come away! Come away! Come away!
Light clouds are winging now,
Easter bells ringing now
Anthems of glee!
Come from your dusty nooks,
Fling away musty books,
Hear how the lusty rooks
Caw merrily!
List to the happy note,
Trolled from the mavis' throat,
Where breezy zephyrs float,
Cradling the trees!
Broad seas are glancing,
Bright waves are dancing,
Light skiffs advancing
With undulant ease!
All things are buoyant and bright with the May,
All things rejoice in the fresh-streaming ray;
Come away! Come away! Come away!
123
Wilt thou be lagging now,
Fretting and fagging now,
Moping and groping,
With down-drooping head?
Over the yellow leaf,
Wasting thy summers brief,
Building and gilding
The bones of the dead!
Digging from mouldy graves,
Old Greek and Roman knaves,
Scratching and patching
Their mummies to life;
Muddily diving,
Thornily striving,
Idly reviving
Some foolish old strife,
Deaf to the charm of the lusty-voiced May,
Deaf to the call of sweet birds from the spray;
Come away! Come away! Come away!
Fretting and fagging now,
Moping and groping,
With down-drooping head?
Over the yellow leaf,
Wasting thy summers brief,
Building and gilding
The bones of the dead!
Digging from mouldy graves,
Old Greek and Roman knaves,
Scratching and patching
Their mummies to life;
Muddily diving,
Thornily striving,
Idly reviving
Some foolish old strife,
Deaf to the charm of the lusty-voiced May,
Deaf to the call of sweet birds from the spray;
Come away! Come away! Come away!
Wilt thou be dreaming still,
Restlessly teeming still
With bubbles and troubles
That rise from the brain?
Guessing and gaping,
Theories shaping,
Wondering, blundering,
Ever in vain?
With thoughts never steady,
With words ever ready,
Spouting and routing,
And troubling the pool;
Rushing in boldly,
Cutting up coldly,
Weighing, surveying,
All things by a rule!
Burrowing blindly far from the day,
Deaf to the sweet birds that call from the spray;
Come away! Come away! Come away!
Restlessly teeming still
With bubbles and troubles
That rise from the brain?
Guessing and gaping,
Theories shaping,
124
Ever in vain?
With thoughts never steady,
With words ever ready,
Spouting and routing,
And troubling the pool;
Rushing in boldly,
Cutting up coldly,
Weighing, surveying,
All things by a rule!
Burrowing blindly far from the day,
Deaf to the sweet birds that call from the spray;
Come away! Come away! Come away!
Come where the mountain high
Cleaveth the mottled sky,
Where white clouds lightly fly
Dappling the noon!
Where the lone mountain tarn,
Fringed by the plumy fern,
Shimmers and glimmers
Beneath the pale moon;
Where the green birchen spray
Waves o'er the cliffy way,
Fragrantly, vagrantly,
Skirting the Ben;
And the flood roaring free,
Bubbling with foamy glee,
Gushes and rushes
And leaps to the glen!
Where winter's cold cerements are bursting away,
And Zephyrs are piping the birth hymn of May,
Come away! Come away! Come away!
Cleaveth the mottled sky,
Where white clouds lightly fly
Dappling the noon!
Where the lone mountain tarn,
Fringed by the plumy fern,
Shimmers and glimmers
Beneath the pale moon;
Where the green birchen spray
Waves o'er the cliffy way,
Fragrantly, vagrantly,
Skirting the Ben;
125
Bubbling with foamy glee,
Gushes and rushes
And leaps to the glen!
Where winter's cold cerements are bursting away,
And Zephyrs are piping the birth hymn of May,
Come away! Come away! Come away!
Where the wide leafy bower,
Sprouting with snowy flower,
Richly with drooping power,
Nods o'er the lea;
And the brook slowly wandering,
Broadly meandering,
Lispingly, crispingly,
Creeps to the sea!
Where crown, bell, and starlet,
White, purple, and scarlet,
Loosely, profusely,
Spread over the mead;
Where the white lambs are playing,
And reeling and swaying,
The bee goes a-Maying
With light buzzing speed;
Where Nature is vested in light from the May,
And all things with vegetive splendour are gay,
Come away! Come away! Come away!
Sprouting with snowy flower,
Richly with drooping power,
Nods o'er the lea;
And the brook slowly wandering,
Broadly meandering,
Lispingly, crispingly,
Creeps to the sea!
Where crown, bell, and starlet,
White, purple, and scarlet,
Loosely, profusely,
Spread over the mead;
Where the white lambs are playing,
And reeling and swaying,
The bee goes a-Maying
With light buzzing speed;
Where Nature is vested in light from the May,
And all things with vegetive splendour are gay,
Come away! Come away! Come away!
126
Come where broad seas of light,
Flooding with noiseless might,
Sweep with new glory bright
O'er earth and sky!
Wilt thou be lurking then,
Owlishly far from men,
Dark in this musty den,
Blinding thine eye?
Not from dry learning's mine,
Not from dead printed line,
Gushes the lore divine
Living to thee;
Shake rusty bonds away,
Leap into open day,
Wander in face of May
Bravely with me;
Things that were dead shall be quickened to-day,
Touched with new transport of life from the May,
Come away! Come away! Come away!
Flooding with noiseless might,
Sweep with new glory bright
O'er earth and sky!
Wilt thou be lurking then,
Owlishly far from men,
Dark in this musty den,
Blinding thine eye?
Not from dry learning's mine,
Not from dead printed line,
Gushes the lore divine
Living to thee;
Shake rusty bonds away,
Leap into open day,
Wander in face of May
Bravely with me;
Things that were dead shall be quickened to-day,
Touched with new transport of life from the May,
Come away! Come away! Come away!
| Musa Burschicosa | |