Come forth into the light of things, She has a world of ready wealth, One impulse from a vernal wood Of moral evil and of good, Than all the sages can. Sweet is the lore which Nature brings: Mis-shapes the beauteous forms of things; Enough of science and of art; Close up these barren leaves: Come forth, and bring with you a heart VII. ADDRESS TO THE SONS OF BURNS, AFTER VISITING THEIR FATHER'S GRAVE. (AUGUST 14, 1803.) YE now are panting up life's hill! And more than common strength and skill If ye would give the better will Its lawful sway. Strong-bodied if ye be to bear Ye sons of Burns! for watchful care For honest men delight will take Let no mean hope your souls enslave; Your father such example gave, But be admonished by his grave, And think, and fear! VIII. TO THE SPADE OF A FRIEND. (AN AGRICULTURIST.) COMPOSED WHILE WE WERE LABOURING TOGETHER IN HIS PLEASURE-GROUND. SPADE! with which Wilkinson had tilled his lands, And shaped these pleasant walks by Emont's side, Thou art a tool of honour in my hands; I press thee through the yielding soil with pride. Rare master has it been thy lot to know; Health, quiet, meekness, ardour, hope secure, Here often hast thou heard the Poet sing Who shall inherit thee when death has laid If he be one that feels, with skill to part With thee he will not dread a toilsome day, His thrift thy uselessness will never scorn; IX. WRITTEN IN GERMANY, ON ONE OF THE COLDEST DAYS OF THE CENTURY. I must apprise the reader that the stoves in North Germany generally have the impression of a galloping horse upon them, this being part of the Brunswick arms. A FIG for your languages, German and Norse! Let me have the song of the kettle; And the tongs and the poker, instead of that horse Our earth is no doubt made of excellent stuff; The weather in 'forty was cutting and rough, And then, as Heaven knows, the glass stood low enough; Here's a fly, a disconsolate creature! perhaps And, sorrow for him! this dull treacherous heat Alas! how he fumbles about the domains Which this comfortless oven environ! He cannot find out in what track he must crawl, Stock-still there he stands, like a traveller bemazed; His feelers methinks I can see him put forth To the east and the west, and the south and the north; See his spindles sink under him, foot, leg, and thigh; Between life and death his blood freezes and thaws; No brother, no friend has he near him-while I As blest and as glad in this desolate gloom As if green summer grass were the floor of my room, Yet, God is my witness, thou small helpless thing! Till summer comes up from the south, and with crowds Of thy brethren a march thou shouldst sound through the clouds And back to the forests again! X WRITTEN AT A SMALL DISTANCE FROM MY HOUSE, AND SENT BY MY LITTLE BOY TO THE PERSON TO WHOM THEY WERE ADDRESSED. It is the first mild day of March, There is a blessing in the air, Which seems a sense of joy to yield To the bare trees, and mountains bare, My sister! ('tis a wish of mine) Edward will come with you; and pray, No joyless forms shall regulate Our living calendar : We from to-day, my friend, will date The opening of the year. Love, now an universal birth, From heart to heart is stealing, From earth to man, from man to earth: -It is the hour of feeling. One moment now may give us more Than fifty years of reason: Our minds shall drink at every pore The spirit of the season. Some silent laws our hearts may make, Which they shall long obey; We for the year to come may take Our temper from to-day. And from the blessèd power that rolls We'll frame the measure of our souls: Then come, my sister! come, I pray, XI. TO A YOUNG LADY, WHO HAD BEEN REPROACHED FOR TAKING LONG WALKS IN THE DEAR child of nature, let them rail! A harbour and a hold, Where thou, a wife and friend, shalt see Thy own delightful days, and be A light to young and old. There, healthy as a shepherd-boy, As if thy heritage were joy, And pleasure were thy trade, Thou, while thy babes around thee cling, Shalt show us how divine a thing A woman may be made. Thy thoughts and feelings shall not die, A melancholy slave; But an old age serene and bright, And lovely as a Lapland night, Shall lead thee to thy grave. XII. LINES, WRITTEN IN EARLY SPRING. I HEARD a thousand blended notes, In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts To her fair works did nature link |