 | John Clare: The Midsummer Cushion |  |
194
THE OLD SHEPHERD
Tis pleasant to bear reccolections in mind
Of joys that time hurrys away
To look back on smiles that have past like the wind
& compare them with frowns of to day
Twas the joy of old Robin forsooth
Oer the past with fond pleasure to dwell
To recount the fond loves of his joys & his youth
& days of lost pleasures to tell
Of joys that time hurrys away
To look back on smiles that have past like the wind
& compare them with frowns of to day
Twas the joy of old Robin forsooth
Oer the past with fond pleasure to dwell
To recount the fond loves of his joys & his youth
& days of lost pleasures to tell
“Tis now many years” like a child he would say
“Since I joined in the sports of the green
Since I tied up the flowers for the garlands of may
& danced with the holiday queen
Reccolections look backward in sorrowful pride
Reccolections look forward in tears
To the past when my happiness withered & died
& the present dull desolate years”
“Since I joined in the sports of the green
Since I tied up the flowers for the garlands of may
& danced with the holiday queen
Reccolections look backward in sorrowful pride
Reccolections look forward in tears
To the past when my happiness withered & died
& the present dull desolate years”
“I love to be counting while sitting alone
With many a heart aching sigh
How many a season has rapidly flown
& springs with their summers gone bye
Since Susan the pride of the village was deemed
To whom youths affections I gave
Whom I led to the church & beloved & esteemed
& followed in grief to the grave
With many a heart aching sigh
How many a season has rapidly flown
& springs with their summers gone bye
Since Susan the pride of the village was deemed
To whom youths affections I gave
Whom I led to the church & beloved & esteemed
& followed in grief to the grave
Lifes changes for many hours musings supply
How the past & the present appear
To mark how a few passing years hurry bye
When nothing is left as it where
The youth that with me to mans summer did bloom
Have dwindled away to old men
& maidens like flowers of the spring have made room
For many new blossoms since then
How the past & the present appear
To mark how a few passing years hurry bye
When nothing is left as it where
The youth that with me to mans summer did bloom
Have dwindled away to old men
& maidens like flowers of the spring have made room
For many new blossoms since then
I have lived to see all but lifes sorrows pass bye
Leaving changes & pains & decay
Where nought is the same but the wide spreading sky
& the sun that awakens the day
The green where I tended my sheep when a boy
Has yielded its pride to the plough
& the shades where my infancy revelled in joy
The axe has left desolate now
Leaving changes & pains & decay
Where nought is the same but the wide spreading sky
& the sun that awakens the day
The green where I tended my sheep when a boy
Has yielded its pride to the plough
195
The axe has left desolate now
Yet a bush lingers still that invites me to stop
What heart can such whimsies withstand
Where Susan once saw a birds nest in its top
& I reached her the eggs with my hand
& so long since the day I remember it well
It has stretched to a sizable tree
& the birds yearly come in its branches to dwell
As far from a jiant as me
What heart can such whimsies withstand
Where Susan once saw a birds nest in its top
& I reached her the eggs with my hand
& so long since the day I remember it well
It has stretched to a sizable tree
& the birds yearly come in its branches to dwell
As far from a jiant as me
On a favourite spot by the side of a brook
When Susan was just in her prime
A ripe bunch of nutts from her apron she took
& planted them close by my side
It has grown up with years & on many a bough
Groweth nutts like its parent agen
Where shepherds no doubt have oft sought them ere now
To please other susans since then
When Susan was just in her prime
A ripe bunch of nutts from her apron she took
& planted them close by my side
It has grown up with years & on many a bough
Groweth nutts like its parent agen
Where shepherds no doubt have oft sought them ere now
To please other susans since then
The joys that I knew when my youth was in prime
Like a dream thats half ended is oer
& the faces I knew in that changable time
Are seen with the living no more
I have lived to see friends that I loved pass away
With the pleasures their company gave
I have lived to see love with my susan decay
& the grass growing green on her grave
Like a dream thats half ended is oer
& the faces I knew in that changable time
Are seen with the living no more
I have lived to see friends that I loved pass away
With the pleasures their company gave
I have lived to see love with my susan decay
& the grass growing green on her grave
Poor Rover the mate of my youths summer day
That came to my whistle with pride
That shared the first years of my labour & play
Grew old in my friendship & died
& this old friend that now lyeth down by my feet
Looks as old as his master to be
Yet when the past scenes of my life I repeat
He even seems a new comer to me
That came to my whistle with pride
That shared the first years of my labour & play
Grew old in my friendship & died
& this old friend that now lyeth down by my feet
Looks as old as his master to be
Yet when the past scenes of my life I repeat
He even seems a new comer to me
Thus oft oer his staff the old shepherd would bend
Recounting in sorrowful pride
The things of his youth while some young shepherd friend
Stood to listen the tales by his side—
The pleasures of youth when too late we esteem
When its follys no longer engage
When the beautiful past like a midsummer dream
Looks green through the winter of age
Recounting in sorrowful pride
The things of his youth while some young shepherd friend
Stood to listen the tales by his side—
The pleasures of youth when too late we esteem
196
When the beautiful past like a midsummer dream
Looks green through the winter of age
| John Clare: The Midsummer Cushion | |