Dying she fell, and as the strains expire, Breathed out her soul in anguish on the lyre; DAY. A PASTORAL. BY CUNNINGHAM. MORNING. -Carpe diem. IN the barn the tenant cock, Close to Partlet perch'd on high, Swiftly from the mountain's brow, Philomel forsakes the thorn, Plaintive where she prates at night, HOR From the low-roof'd cottage ridge See the chattering swallow spring; Darting through the one-arch'd bridge, Quick she dips her dappled wing. Now the pine-tree's waving top Kidlings now begin to crop From the balmy sweet, uncloy'd, Trickling through the creviced rock, Where the limpid stream distills, Sweet refreshment waits the flock When 'tis sun-drove from the hills. Colin's for the promised corn (Ere the harvest hopes are ripe) Anxious; whilst the huntsman's horn, Boldly sounding, drowns his pipe. Sweet,-O sweet, the warbling throng On the white emblossom'd spray! Nature's universal song Echoes to the rising day. NOON. FERVID on the glittering flood By the brook the shepherd dines, Now the flock forsakes the glade, Where uncheck'd the sun-beams fall; Sure to find a pleasing shade By the ivied abbey wall. Echo in her airy round, O'er the river, rock, and hill, Cannot catch a single sound, Save the clack of yonder mill. Cattle court the zephyrs bland, Where the streamlet wanders cool; Or with languid silence stand Midway in the marshy pool. D But from mountain, dell, or stream, Not a leaf has leave to stir, Nature's lull'd-serene-and still! Quiet e'en the shepherd's cur, Sleeping on the heath-clad hill. Languid is the landscape round, Now the hill-the hedge-is green, Now the warblers' throats in tune; Blithesome is the verdant scene, Brighten'd by the beams of Noon! EVENING. O'ER the heath the heifer strays Burnish'd by the setting sun. Now he sets behind the hill, Trudging as the ploughmen go, Where the rising forest spreads As the lark with varied tune Now the hermit howlet peeps From the barn or twisted brake; And the blue mist slowly creeps, Curling on the silver lake. As the trout, in speckled pride, Verges in successive rings. |