THE ARGUMENT. The subject proposed. Invocation. Address to Mr. DODINGTON. An introductory reflexion on the motion of the heavenly bodies; whence the succession of the seasons. As the face of Nature in this season is almost uniform, the progress of the poem is a description of a summer's day. The dawn. Sun rising. Hymn to the sun. Forenoon. Summer insects described. Hay making. Sheep-shearing. Noon-day. A woodland retreat. Group of herds and flocks. A solemn grove: how it affects a contemplative mind. A cataract, and rude scene. View of summer in the torrid zone. Storm of thunder and lightning. A tale. The storm over. A serene afternoon. Bathing. Hour of walking. Transition to the prospect of a rich well-cultivated country; which introduces a panegyric on Great-Britain. Sun-set. Evening. Night. Summer meA comet. The whole concluding with the praise of teors. philosophy. SUMMER. FROM brightening fields of ether fair disclos'd, Child of the Sun, refulgent Summer comes, And ever-fanning breezes, on his way; While, from his ardent look, the turning Spring Hence, let me haste into the mid-wood shade, Come, Inspiration! from thy hermit seat, By mortal seldom found: may Fancy dare, From thy fix'd serious eye, and raptur'd glance Shot on surrounding Heaven, to steal one look Creative of the Poet, every power Exalting to an ecstasy of soul. And thou, my youthful Muse's early friend, Genius, and wisdom; the gay social sense, Amid the flux of many thousand years, White break the clouds away. With quickened step, And opens all the lawny prospect wide. The dripping rock, the mountain's misty top Swell on the sight, and brighten with the dawn. Blue, through the dusk, the smoking currents shine; And from the bladed field the fearful hare |