Here are no entrapping baits
To hasten to, too hasty fates; Unless it be
The fond credulity
Of silly fish, which (wordling like) still look
Upon the bait, but never on the hook:
Nor envy, 'less among
Or a laverock build her nest:
Here, give my weary spirits rest, And raise my low-pitched thoughts above Earth, or what poor mortals love.
Thus, free from lawsuits, and the noise Of princes' courts, I would rejoice;
The birds, for price of their sweet song. Or, with my Bryan and a book,
Loiter long days near Shawford brook; There sit by him, and eat my meat; There see the sun both rise and set; There bid good morning to next day; There meditate my time away;
And angle on; and beg to have A quiet passage to a welcome grave. IZAAK WALTON.
BOBOLINK! that in the meadow, Or beneath the orchard's shadow, Keepest up a constant rattle Joyous as my children's prattle, Welcome to the north again! Welcome to mine ear thy strain, Welcome to mine eye the sight Of thy buff, thy black and white. Brighter plumes may greet the sun By the banks of Amazon; Sweeter tones may weave the spell Of enchanting Philomel; But the tropic bird would fail, And the English nightingale, If we should compare their worth With thine endless, gushing mirth.
When the ides of May are past, June and Summer nearing fast, While from depths of blue above Comes the mighty breath of love, Calling out each bud and flower With resistless, secret power,— Waking hope and fond desire, Kindling the erotic fire,— Filling youths' and maidens' dreams With mysterious, pleasing themes; Then, amid the sunlight clear
Floating in the fragrant air,
Thou dost fill each heart with pleasure By thy glad ecstatic measure.
A single note, so sweet and low, Like a full heart's overflow, Forms the prelude; but the strain Gives us no such tone again, For the wild and saucy song Leaps and skips the notes among, With such quick and sportive play, Ne'er was madder, merrier lay.
Gayest songster of the Spring! Thy melodies before me bring Visions of some dream-built land, Where, by constant zephyrs fanned, I might walk the livelong day, Embosomed in perpetual May. Nor care nor fear thy bosom knows; For thee a tempest never blows; But when our northern Summer 's o'er, By Delaware's or Schuylkill's shore The wild rice lifts its airy head, And royal feasts for thee are spread. And when the Winter threatens there, Thy tireless wings yet own no fear, But bear thee to more Southern coasts, Far beyond the reach of frosts.
Bobolink! still may thy gladness Take from me all taints of sadness; Fill my soul with trust unshaken In that Being who has taken
Care for every living thing,
In Summer, Winter, Fall and Spring.
HAIL. beauteous stranger of the grove! Thou messenger of Spring! Now heaven repairs thy rural seat, And woods thy welcome sing.
Soon as the daisy decks the green, Thy certain voice we hear.
Hast thou a star to guide thy path,
Or mark the rolling year?
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