Days and Hours :: :: University of Virginia Library

The golden-throated merle, and mellow thrush
Chant to us yet; the woodlark will not fly
His ancient sylvan solitude, or hush
His dewy pipings for a softer sky;
But the swallow flies away,
I would that I were he,
He follows the flown May
Across the sea.

II

The swallow hath a fickle heart at best,
He bears off the sweet days he brought us o'er,
And sounds retreat like an ungrateful guest
That shuns the flatter'd host he sued before;
Should kind Mirth be forgot
When his dark locks are gray,
And Love remember'd not?
Ah! stay, ah! stay!

273

III

Know ye of Gladness, that with jocund hearts
Can cast away old loves for love of new?
O friends, the music of a thousand arts
Charms not so sweetly as a voice that's true:
I sang ye songs of sorrow,
I sang ye songs of glee,
I cried, await to-morrow;
Ye heard not me.

IV

Know ye of Sorrow? can ye understand
Mortality, that hung unto the robe
Of Summer, as she flies from land to land,
Follow swift Youth around the rolling globe?
Joy's winged heart is light,
But blind are his bright eyes;
Grief seeth in the night
Of tears and sighs.

274

V

The feathers of Time's wings, ere yet they fall
Ye pluck, and from his plumes ye trim your own;
Ye answer to the Southwind's silver call,
Ah! whither wend ye, leaving me undone?
Ah! stay, dear friends, ah! stay,
And leave me not forsaken;
Care takes not the same way
That ye have taken.

VI

In our lorn woods the morn and evensong
Will fail, and things of sunshine cease to be;
Lo! shrilling Winter leadeth Death along,
I see the tyrant shake his lance at me.
Delight hath fled the earth,
The evil days are come;
So I will light my hearth,
And sing at home.

275

VII

Ye seek the blue isles, and the happy hills,
Ye rush into the heart of Summer skies,
Ye leave behind ye unremember'd ills,
Ye fly like happy souls to Paradise.
Oh! could ye, blissful things,
On my dark, utter day,
Lend me those selfsame wings
To flee away!