Now lively folk at balls and plays, Or charming cards, their fancies please ; And foolish children round the fire, Of fairies, ghofts, and fprites inquire; Till weary grown, they fhrink to bed, Fill'd with horrific, idle dread. Now, in the cold, benumbing night, The swallows bend their eager flight To faug-thatch'd roofs, where they remain, Secure from storms, and chilling rain. But lo! December next appears,
Which racks our breasts with painful fears.
OUGH, baneful hurricanes arife,
And northern tempefts cloud the skies ;
While chilling blasts make mortals know
December comes, replete with fnow.
The wither'd herbage of the fields
Scant food to hungry oattle yields,
That heartless crop the poor remains
Of fertile once, and verdant plains.
With plenty deck'd, the festive board
Does mirth and jollity afford;
And jocund people Chrifimas hail
With sports, songs, jests, and honest ale
Which ferve to banifh fullen care,
And ease the hardships of the year.
The innocent and useful sheep,
To places fet with bushes creep;
And there in plaintive bleatings moan
The pleafant, funny feafon gone.
Thick crowded stars adorn the night,
And shed a clear and glitt'ring light.
In mourning clad, the feeble fun
Dejected moves, its course to run;
And faint, obfcure, each gloomy day,
Scarce deals to earth a fingle ray.
The froft with hoary honors crown'd, '
In clofe-lock'd fetters binds the ground;
Whofe keen and piercing pow'rs dispense
To land and fea their influence,
Which numb the limbs with nipping pain;
And the year ends with cold and rain.
ON MORNING.
BEHOLD the glitt'ring ftars retire,
And in thick clouds themselves repose;
Avoiding Sol's refplendent fire,
While beaming glory round him flows.
The daring cock, with lofty throat,
Gives notice of the coming morn;
And nightingales of fweetest note,
Forfake their refting-place, the thorn.
The huntfman with loud, early cries,
Now starts the fearful, nimble hare;
And o'er the plains impatient flies,
The worthless, timid prey to fhare.
From his ftraw couch the frugal clown
Haftes quick to earn his wages poor;
And fnarling cur-dogs in each town,
Stand barking at their master's door.
The fowler, with obfervant eye,
Explores each wood and brake around;
And as the warblers fleeping lie,
They fink beneath a deadly wound.
Now fishermen into the flood,
With ftedfaft look commit their bait; While in large fhoals the finny brood Catch eager at their certain fate.
The linen from the clean-wafh'd pail,
Is hung to dry upon the thorn;
And furdy threfhers with the flail,
Inceffant beat the yielding corn.
The foaring larks, afcending high,
Freed from the difmal gloom of night,
Tune their fhrill pipes, and gladly fly,
Rejoicing at approaching light.
The blooming milkmaid fweetly fings,
As the trips lightly o'er the plain;
And kindly miling, new-milk brings,
To her enamour'd, honeft iwain.
The fchool-boy o'er the verdant fod,
With tardy pace moves on his way,
Regardless of his teacher's rod,
He spends his golden hours in play.
HE fun his lazy car has driv?a
Up the steep, meridian height;
Illumining the earth and heav'n,
With keenest rays of piercing light.
The face of nature looks ferene,
Freth glories beam throughout the skies? While from the fields and hedges green, The aromatic fragrance flies.
The birds in throngs now panting fly,
And dip them in the limpid flood:
Or in thick clufters joyful lie,
Clofe cover'd by the fhady wood.
See from on high the larks defcend,
Unable to endure the heat;
And where the leafy poplars bend,
The weary hind seeks a retreat.
Swift from its cell the bufy bee
Files anx'ous to collect its fweet;
And ozen from the plow fet free,
In thades repofe their tired feet.
The fchool-boy now indulges play,
And quits his heavy book awhile;
The brawny ruftics tols the hay,
And with loud laughs their tasks beguile.
The mower from his work retires,
To cool him in the gentle breeze;
And hides from Sol's refiftless fires,
While scarce a zephyr fans the trees.
In herds the harmless, woolly sheep,
Throng ardent to the thicket's fide;
And haft'ning down the rugged steep,
In leaf-clad coverts joyful hide.
Now from the field the careful fwain,
Homewards directs his tardy way;
But when refresh'd, returns again,
To make amends for his delay.
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