One impulse from a vernal wood May teach you more of man, Of moral evil and of good, Than all the sages can. Sweet is the lore which Nature brings; Misshapes the beauteous forms of things Enough of Science and of Art; Close up those barren leaves; Come forth, and bring with you a heart That watches and receives. 1798 III. LINES WRITTEN IN EARLY SPRING. I HEARD a thousand blended notes, While in a grove I sat reclined, In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts Bring sad thoughts to the mind. To her fair works did Nature link Through primrose tufts, in that green bower, The birds around me hopped and played, The budding twigs spread out their fan, And I must think, do all I can, That there was pleasure there. If this belief from heaven be sent, What man has made of man? IV. 1798 A CHARACTER. I MARVEL how Nature could ever find space For so many strange contrasts in one human face: There's thought and no thought, and there's paleness and bloom, And bustle and sluggishness, pleasure and gloom. There's weakness, and strength both redundant and vain ; Such strength as, if ever affliction and pain Could pierce through a temper that's soft to disease, Would be rational peace, a philosopher's ease. There's indifference, alike when he fails or succeeds, And attention full ten times as much as there needs; Pride where there 's no envy, there's so much of joy; And mildness, and spirit both forward and coy. There's freedom, and sometimes a diffident stare This picture from nature may seem to depart, Yet the Man would at once run away with your heart; And I for five centuries right gladly would be Such an odd, such a kind, happy creature as he. 1800. V. TO MY SISTER. Ir is the first mild day of March: The redbreast sings from the tall larch There is a blessing in the air, Which seems a sense of joy to yield My sister! ('t is a wish of mine,) Edward will come with you; - and, pray, Put on with speed your woodland dress; And bring no book: for this one day We'll give to idleness. No joyless forms shall regulate Our living calendar: We from to-day, my Friend, will date The opening of the year. Love, now a universal birth, From heart to heart is stealing, From earth to man, from man to earth One moment now may give us more Our minds shall drink at every pore The spirit of the season. Some silent laws our hearts will make, Which they shall long obey: We for the year to come may take Our temper from to-day. And from the blessed power that rolls About, below, above, We'll frame the measure of our souls: They shall be tuned to love. Then come, my Sister! come, I prav. With speed put on your woodland dress, And bring no book: for this one day We'll give to idleness. VI. SIMON LEE, THE OLD HUNTSMAN: 1790. WITH AN INCIDENT IN WHICH HE WAS CONCERNED, In the sweet shire of Cardigan, |