[Page 297]

MORNING.

1 IN the barn the tenant cock,
2 Close to Partlet perch'd on high,
3 Briskly crows, (the shepherd's clock)
4 And proclaims the morning nigh.
5 Swiftly from the mountain's brow,
6 Shadows, nurs'd by night, retire;
7 And the peeping sun-beam now
8 Paints with gold the village-spire.
9 Now the pine-tree's waving top
10 Gently greets the morning gale;
11 And the new-wak'd kidlings crop
12 Daisies round the dewy vale.
13 Philomel forsakes the thorn,
14 Plaintive where she prates at night;
15 And the lark, to greet the morn,
16 Soars beyond the shepherd's sight.
[Page 298]
17 From the clay-built cottage-ridge,
18 See the chattering swallow spring!
19 Darting thro' the one-arch'd bridge,
20 Quick she dips her dappled wing.
21 Lo the busy bees employ'd!
22 Restless till their task be done!
23 Now from sweet to sweet, uncloy'd,
24 Sipping dew before the sun.
25 Trickling thro' the crevic'd rock,
26 See the silver stream distill!
27 Sweet refreshment for the flock,
28 When 'tis sun-drove from the hill!
29 Ploughmen, for the promis'd corn
30 Ripening o'er the banks of Tweed,
31 Anxious hear the huntsman's horn,
32 Soften'd by the shepherd's reed.
33 Sweet, oh sweet, the warbling throng,
34 On the white emblossom'd spray;
35 All is music, mirth, and song,
36 At the jocund dawn of day.
[Page 299]

NOON.

1 FERVID now the sun-beam glows,
2 Drinking deep the morning gem;
3 Not a dew-drop's left the rose,
4 To refresh her parent stem.
5 By the brook the shepherd dines,
6 From the fierce meridian heat
7 Shelter'd by the branching pines,
8 Pendent o'er his grassy seat.
9 See, the flocks forsake the glade,
10 Where uncheck'd the sun-beams fall,
11 Sure to find a pleasing shade
12 By the ivy'd abbey wall.
13 Echo, in her airy round
14 O'er the river, rock, and hill,
15 Cannot catch a single sound,
16 Save the clack of yonder mill.
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17 Cattle court the breezes bland,
18 Where the streamlet wanders cool;
19 Or with languid silence stand
20 Midway in the marshy pool.
21 But from mountain, dell, or stream,
22 Not a fluttering Zephyr springs;
23 Fearful lest the piercing beam
24 Scorch its soft, its silken wings.
25 Not a leaf has leave to stir;
26 Nature's lull'd, serene and still;
27 Quiet e'en the shepherd's cur,
28 Sleeping on the heath-clad hill.
29 Languid is the landscape round,
30 Till the fresh descending shower
31 Kindly cools the thirsty ground,
32 And revives each fainting flower.
33 Now the hill, the hedge, is green,
34 Now the warbler's throat's in tune;
35 Blithsome is the vernal scene,
36 Brighten'd by the beams of noon.
[Page 301]

EVENING.

1 AS the plodding ploughman goes
2 Homeward, (to the hamlet bound)
3 Giant-like his shadow grows,
4 Lengthen'd o'er the level ground.
5 O'er the mead the bullock strays
6 Free the furrow'd task is done;
7 And the village windows blaze,
8 Burnish'd by the setting Sun.
9 Mark him, from behind the hill,
10 Strike the purple-painted sky;
11 Can the pencil's mimic skill
12 Copy the refulgent dye?
13 Where the rising forest spreads
14 Round the time-decaying dome,
15 To their high-built airy beds
16 See the rooks returning home!
[Page 302]
17 As the lark, with varied tune,
18 Carrols to the evening, loud,
19 Mark the mild resplendent moon
20 Breaking thro' a parted cloud!
21 Now the hermit howlet peeps
22 From the barn, or twisted brake,
23 And the curling vapour creeps
24 O'er the lily-border'd lake:
25 As the trout, in speckled pride,
26 Playful, from its bosom springs,
27 To the banks a ruffled tide
28 Verges in successive rings.
29 Tripping thro' the silken grass,
30 O'er the path-divided dale,
31 See, the rose-complexion'd lass
32 With the well-pois'd milking-pail!
33 Linnets with unnumber'd notes,
34 And the cuckoo bird with two,
35 Tuning sweet their mellow throats,
36 Bid the setting sun adieu.
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Title (in Source Edition): MORNING.
Themes: night; rural life; time; nature; day
Genres: pastoral
References: DMI 31280

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Pearch, G. A collection of poems in four volumes. By several hands. Vol. III. [The second edition]. London: printed for G. Pearch, 1770, pp. 297-303. 4v. ; 8⁰. (ESTC T116245; DMI 1136; OTA K093079.003) (Page images digitized from a copy in the Bodleian Library [(OC) 280 o.790].)

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The text has been typographically modernized, but without any silent modernization of spelling, capitalization, or punctuation. The source of the text is given and all editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. Based on the electronic text originally produced by the TCP project, this ECPA text has been edited to conform to the recommendations found in Level 5 of the Best Practices for TEI in Libraries version 4.0.0.

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