THE SEASON S.

SPRING.

1728.

"Et nunc omnis ager, nunc omnis parturit arbos, "Nunc frondent fylvæ, nunc formofiffimus annus."

THE ARGUMENT.

VIRG.

The fubject propofed. Infcribed to the Countess of Hertford. The Seafon is defcribed as it affects the various parts of Nature, ascending from the lower to the higher; with digreffions arifing from the subject. Its influence on inanimate matter, on vegetables, on brute animals, and, last, on man; concluding with a diffuafive from the wild and irregular paffion of love, opposed to that of a pure and happy kind.

COME, gentle Spring, ethereal Mildnefs, come,

And from the bofom of yon dropping cloud,
While mufic wakes around, veil'd in a fhower
Of fhadowing roses, on our plains descend.

O Hertford, fitted or to fhine in courts
With unaffected grace, or walk the plain
With innocence and meditation join'd
In foft affemblage, listen to my fong,
Which thy own Seafon paints; when Nature all

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Is blooming and benevolent, like thee.

And fee where furly Winter paffes off,
Far to the north, and calls his ruffian blafts:
His blafts obey, and quit the howling hill,
The fhatter'd foreft, and the ravag'd vale;
While fofter gales fucceed, at whose kind touch,
Diffolving fnows in livid torrents loft,
The mountains lift their green heads to the sky.
As yet the trembling year is unconfirm'd,
And Winter oft at eve refumes the breeze,
Chills the pale morn, and bids his driving fleets
Deform the day delightless: fo that scarce
The bittern knows his time, with bill ingulpht
To fhake the founding marfh; or from the fhore
The plovers when to fcatter o'er the heath,
And fing their wild notes to the listening wafte.
At laft from Arics rolls the bounteous fun,
And the bright Bull receives him. Then no more
Th' expanfive atmosphere is cramp'd with cold;
But, full of life and vivifying foul,

Lifts the light clouds fublime, and spreads them thin,
Fleecy and white, o'er all-furrounding heaven.

Forth fly the tepid airs; and unconfin'd, Unbinding earth, the moving foftness strays. Joyous, th' impatient husbandman perceives Relenting Nature, and his lufty fteers

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Drives from their ftalls, to where the well-us'd plough,
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

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Chear'd by the fimple fong and foaring lark.
Meanwhile incumbent o'er the fhining share
The mafter leans, removes th' obftructing clay,
Winds the whole work, and fidelong lays the glebe.
White through the neighbouring field the fower stalks,
With meafur'd ftep; and liberal throws the grain 45
Into the faithful bofom of the ground:

The harrow follows harfh, and fhuts the scene.

Be gracious, Heaven! for now laborious man
Has done his part. Ye foftering breezes, blow!
Ye foftening dews, ye tender fhowers, defcend!
And temper all, thou world-reviving fun,
Into the perfect year! Nor ye who live
In luxury and ease, in pomp and pride,
Think these loft themes unworthy of your ear:
Such themes as thefe the rural Maro fung
To wide-imperial Rome, in the full height
Of elegance and tafte, by Greece refin'd.
In ancient times, the facred plough employ'd
The kings, and awful fathers of mankind :

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And fome, with whom compar'd your infect-tribes 60
Are but the beings of a fummer's day,

Have held the scale of empire, rul'd the storm
Of mighty war; then, with unwearied hand,
Difdaining little delicacies, feiz'd

The plough, and greatly independent liv'd.

Ye generous Britons, venerate the plough;
And o'er your hills, and long withdrawing vales,
Let Autumn fpread his treasures to the fun,
Luxuriant and unbounded: as the sea,
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Far

Far through his azure turbulent domain,

Your empire owns, and from a thousand shores
Wafts all the pomp of life into your ports;
So with fuperior boon may your rich foil,
Exuberant, Nature's better bleffings pour
O'er every land, the naked nations clothe,
And be th' exhaustless granary of a world!

Nor only through the lenient air this change,
Delicious, breathes; the penetrative fun
His force deep-darting to the dark retreat
Of vegetation, fets the fteaming Power
At large, to wander o'er the vernant earth,
In various hues; but chiefly thee, gay Green!
Thou fmiling Nature's univerfal robe!

United light and fhade! where the fight dwells
With growing strength, and ever-new delight.

From the moist 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 forest stands display'd,
In full luxuriance to the fighing gales;
Where the deer ruftle through the twining brake,
And the birds fing conceal'd. At once array'd
In all the colours of the flushing year,

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By Nature's swift and secret-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,