Lies in the furrow, loofen'd from the froft.
There, unrefufing to the harness'd yoke,

They lend their fhoulder, and begin their toil,
Chear'd by the fimple fong, and foaring lark.
Mean while, incumbent o'er the fhining fhare,
The mafter leans, removes th' obftructed clay,
Winds the whole work, and fidelong lays the
glebe.

White, thro' the neighbouring fields the
fower ftalks,

With measur'd step; and, liberal, throws the grain

Into the faithful bofom of the ground.

The harrow follows harsh, and fhuts the fcene.

From the moift meadow to the wither'd
hill,

Led by the breeze, the vivid verdure runs,
And fwells, and deepens, to the cherish'd eye.
The hawthorn whitens; and the juicy groves
Put forth their buds, unfolding by degrees,
Till the whole leafy foreft ftands difplay'd,
In full luxuriance, to the fighing gales;
Where the deer ruftle thro' the twining brake,
And the birds fing conceal'd. At once, ar-

ray'd

In all the colours of the flushing year,
By nature's fwift and fecret-working hand,
The garden glows, and fills the liberal air
With lavish fragrance; while the promis'd
fruit

Lies yet a little embryo, unperceiv'd,

Within its crimson folds. Now from the

town

Buried in smoke, and sleep, and noisom damps,
Oft let me wander o'er the dewy fields,

Where

1

Where freshness breathes, and dash the trembling drops

From the bent bush, as thro' the verdant maze
Of fweet-bryar hedges I purfue my walk;
Or taste the smell of dairy; or ascend
Some eminence, AUGUSTA, in thy planes,
And fee the country, far-diffus'd around,
One boundless blush, one white-empurpled
shower

Of mingled bloffoms; where the raptur'd eye
Hurries from joy to joy.

*

* Even mountains, vales, And forests feem, impatient, to demandi The promis'd fweetnefs. Man fuperior walks Amid the glad creation, mufing praife, And looking lively gratitude. At laft, The clouds confign their treafures to the fields,

And, foftly fhaking on the dimpled pool Prelufive drops, let all their moisture flow, In large effufion o'er the freshen'd world. The ftealing fhower is fcarce to patter heard, By fuch as wander thro' the forest-walks, Beneath th' umbrageous multitude of leaves. But who can hold. the shade while heaven de fcends

In univerfal bounty, fhedding herbs,

And fruits, and flowers, on nature's ample lap?:

Swift fancy fir'd anticipates their growth;
And, while the milky nutriment diftills,
Beholds the kindling country colour round.'

See, where the winding vale its lavish ftores,-
Irriguous, fpreads. See, how the lily drinks
E e 2
The

The latent rill, fcarce oozing thro' the grafs,
Of growth luxuriant; or the humid bank,
In fair profufion, decks. Long let us walk,
Where the breeze blows from yon extended
field

Of bloffom'd beams. Arabia cannot boast
A fuller gale of joy than, liberal, thence
Breathes thro' the fenfe, and takes the ravish'd
foul.

Nor is the mead unworthy of thy foot,

Full of fresh verdure, and unnumber'd flowers,
The negligence of nature, wide, and wild;
Where, undifguis'd by mimic art, she spreads
Unbounded beauty to the roving eye.

Here their delicious task the fervent bees,
In fwarming millions, tend. Around, athwart,
Thro' the foft air, the bufy nations fly,
Cling to the bud, and, with inferted tube,
Suck its pure effence, its ethereal foul,

And oft, with bolder wing, they foaring dare The purple heath, or where the wild-thyme grows,

And yellow load them with the luscious spoil. At length the finish'd garden to the view Its vistas opens, and its alleys green. Snatch'd thro' the verdant maze, the hurried

eye

Diftracted wanders; now the bowery walk
Of covert clofe, where fcarce a fpeck of day
Falls on the lengthen'd gloom, protracted
fweeps;

Now meets the bending fky, the river now
Dimpling along, the breezy-ruffled lake,
The foreft darkening round, the glittering
fpire,

Th' etherial mountain, and the diftant main.

But

But why fo far excurfive? when at hand, Along thefe blushing borders, bright with dew,

And in yon mingled wilderness of flowers,
Fair-handed Spring unbofoms every grace:
Throws out the fnow-drop, and the crocus
firft;

The daify, primrose, violet darkly blue,
And polyanthus of unnumber'd dyes;

The yellow wall-flower, ftain'd with iron brown;

And lavish stock that fcents the garden round, From the foft wing of vernal breezes fhed, Anemonies; auriculas, enrich'd

With fhining meal o'er all their velvet leaves;
And full renunculas, of glowing red.

Then comes the tulip-race, where beauty plays
Her idle freaks: from family diffus'd.
To family, as flies the father duft,

The varied colours run; and, while they break

On the charm'd eye, the exulting florift marks,
With fecret pride the wonders of his hand.
No gradual bloom is wanting; from the bud,
Firft-born of Spring, to Summer's musky tribes:
Nor hyacinths, of pureft virgin white,

Low-bent, and blushing inward; nor jonquils,
Of potent fragrance; nor narciffus fair,
As o'er the fabled fountain hanging ftill;
Nor broad carnations; nor gay-fpotted pinks;
Nor, fhower'd from every bush, the damafk...
rofe.

Infinite numbers, delicacies, fmells;

With hues on hues expreffion cannot paint, The breath of nature, and her endless bloom..

Ee 3

Hail

Hait, SOURCE OF BEINGS! UNIVERSAL SOUL Of heaven and earth! ESSENTIAL PRESENCE, hail!

TO THEE I bend the KNEE; to THEE my thoughts,

Continual, climb; who, with a mafter-hand,
Haft the great whole into perfection touch'd.
By THEE the various vegetative tribes,
Wrapt in a filmy net, and clad with leaves,
Draw the live ether, and imbibe the dew.
By THEE difpos'd into congenial foils,
Stands each attractive plant, and fucks, and
fwells

The juicy tide; a twining mafs of tubes..
At THY Command the vernal fun awakes
The torpid fap, detruded to the root

By wintry winds, that now in fluent dance,
And lively fermentation, mounting, fpreads
All this innumerous-colour'd fcene of things..

SUMMER