The subject proposed. Invocation. Address to Mr. Dodington. An introductory reflection on the motion of the heavenly bodies; whence the succession of the seasons. As the face of Nature in this season is almost uniform, the progress of the poem is a description of a summer's day. The dawn. Sunrising. Hymn to the sun. Forenoon. Summer insects described. Hay-making. Sheep-sheering. Noonday. A woodland retreat. Group of herds and flocks. A solemn grove: how it affects a contemplative mind. A cataract, and rude scene. View of Summer in the torrid zone. Storm of thunder and lightning. A tale. The storm over, a serene afternoon. Bathing. Hour of walking. Transition to the prospect of a rich well cultivated country; which introduces a panegyric on Great Britain. Sunset. Evening. Night. Summer meteors. A comet. The whole concluding with the praise of philosophy. FROM brightening fields of ether fair disclosed, In pride of youth, and felt through Nature's depth: And ever fanning breezes on his way; While, from his ardent look, the turning Spring A Hence, let me haste into the mid wood shade, mi Where scarce a sunbeam wanders through the gloom; And on the dark green grass, beside the brink * ́ DIA Of haunted stream, that by the roots of oak i Rolls o'er the rocky channel, lie at large, And sing the glories of the circling year. Come, Inspiration! from thy hermit seat, By mortal seldom found: may Fancy dare, From thy fix'd serious eye, and raptured glance Shot on surrounding Heaven, to steal one look Creative of the Poet, every power mig met vere >A Exalting to an ecstasy of soul. *༔ 'And thou, my youthful Muse's early friend, A 1 O Dodington! attend my rural song,bowlwb „aukd Stoop to my theme, inspirit every line, 09b bira od! And teach me to deserve thy just applause. ES TA With what an awful world-revolving powere Were first the' unwieldy planets launch'd along baf The' illimitable void! thus to remain, ydinazot Amid the flux of many thousand years,bus veron seda That oft has swept the toiling race of men, port MĀ And all their labour'd monuments, away, or „Anot all of Firm, unremitting, matchless, in their course When now no more the' alternate Twins are fired, White break the clouds away. With quicken'd step, Brown Night retires; young Day pours in apace, And opens all the lawny prospect wide. The dripping rock, the mountain's misty top Swell on the sight, and brighten with the dawn. Blue, through the dusk, the smoking currents shine; And from the bladed field the fearful hare Limps, awkward: while along the forest glade The wild deer trip, and often turning gaze And thick around the woodland hymns arise. And, springing from the bed of sloth, enjoy wat The cool, the fragrant, and the silent hour, To meditation due and sacred song?~~ For is there aught in sleep can charm the wise? To lie in dead oblivion, losing half ne The fleeting moments of too short a life; Total extinction of the' enlighten'd soul! ན་ཚེ་༢། Wilder'd, and tossing through distemper'd dreams?' Longer than Nature craves; when every Muse F 1. ไร่ |