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Oh! pleasant, pleasant were the days,
The time, when, in our childish plays,
My sister Emmeline and I
Together chased the butterfly!
A very hunter did I rush

Upon the prey :—with leaps and springs
I followed on from brake to bush ;
But she, God love her! feared to brush
The dust from off its wings.

TO THE CUCKOO.

Composed March 22, 1801-1802.

Published 1807

O BLITHE New-comer! I have heard,

I hear thee and rejoice.

O Cuckoo shall I call thee Bird,

Or but a wandering Voice?

While I am lying on the grass

Thy twofold shout I hear,

From hill to hill it seems to pass,

At once far off, and near.

Though babbling only to the Vale,

Of sunshine and of flowers,

Thou bringest unto me a tale

Of visionary hours.

Thrice welcome, darling of the Spring!

Even yet thou art to me

No bird, but an invisible thing,

A voice, a mystery;

The same whom in my school-boy days
I listened to; that Cry

Which made me look a thousand ways
In bush, and tree, and sky.

To seek thee did I often rove
Through woods and on the green ;
And thou wert still a hope, a love;
Still longed for, never seen.

And I can listen to thee yet;
Can lie upon the plain
And listen, till I do beget
That golden time again.

O blessed Bird! the earth we pace
Again appears to be

An unsubstantial, faery place;

That is fit home for Thee !

"MY HEART LEAPS UP.”

Composed March 26, 1802.

My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky :

So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man ;

So be it when I shall grow old,

Or let me die!

The Child is father of the Man;
And I could wish my days to be

Published 1807.

Bound each to each by natural piety.

THE GLOW-WORM. (22)

Composed April 12, 1802.

Published 1807.

AMONG all lovely things my Love had been ;
Had noted well the stars, all flowers that grew
About her home; but she had never seen
A glow-worm, never one, and this I knew.

While riding near her home one stormy night
A single glow-worm did I chance to espy;
I gave a fervent welcome to the sight,
And from my horse I lept; great joy had I.

Upon a leaf the glow-worm did I lay,

To bear it with me through the stormy night:
And, as before, it shone without dismay ;
Albeit putting forth a fainter light.

When to the dwelling of my Love I came,

I went into the orchard quietly;

And left the glow-worm, blessing it by name,
Laid safely by itself, beneath a tree.

The whole next day I hoped, and hoped with fear;
At night the glow-worm shone beneath the tree;
I led my Lucy to the spot, "Look here,"
Oh! joy it was for her, and joy for me!

WRITTEN IN MARCH,

WHILE RESTING ON THE BRIDGE AT THE FOOT OF BROTHER'S

WATER.

Composed April 16, 1802.

THE Cock is crowing,

Published 1807.

The stream is flowing,

The small birds twitter,
The lake doth glitter,

The green field sleeps in the sun;

The oldest and youngest

Are at work with the strongest ;

The cattle are grazing,

Their heads never raising;

There are forty feeding like one!

Like an army defeated
The snow hath retreated,
And now doth fare ill

On the top of the bare hill;

The plough-boy is whooping-anon-anon :
There's joy in the mountains ;

There's life in the fountains;
Small clouds are sailing,

Blue sky prevailing ;

The rain is over and gone!

THE REDBREAST CHASING THE BUTTERFLY.
Composed April 18, 1802.
Published 1807.

ART thou the bird whom Man loves best,
The pious bird with the scarlet breast,

Our little English Robin;

The bird that comes about our doors
When Autumn-winds are sobbing?
Art thou the Peter of Norway Boors?
Their Thomas in Finland,

And Russia far inland?

The bird, that by some name or other
All men who know thee call their brother,
The darling of children and men?
Could father Adam open his eyes,

And see this sight beneath the skies,
He'd wish to close them again.

If the butterfly knew but his friend,
Hither his flight he would bend;
And find his way to me

Under the branches of the tree :
In and out, he darts about ;

Can this be the bird, to man so good,

That, after their bewildering,

Covered with leaves the little children,

So painfully in the wood?

What ailed thee, Robin, that thou couldst pursue

A beautiful creature,

That is gentle by nature?

Beneath the summer sky

From flower to flower let him fly;

'Tis all that he wishes to do.

The cheerer Thou of our indoor sadness,

He is the friend of our summer gladness:
What hinders, then, that ye should be
Playmates in the sunny weather,
And fly about in the air together!

His beautiful wings in crimson are drest,
A crimson as bright as thine own :
Wouldst thou be happy in thy nest,
O pious bird! whom man loves best,
Love him, or leave him alone!

Composed April 20, 1802.

TO A BUTTERFLY.

I'VE watched you now a full half-hour,
Self-poised upon that yellow flower;
And, little Butterfly! indeed

I know not if you sleep or feed.
How motionless !-not frozen seas
More motionless! and then

What joy awaits you, when the breeze
Hath found you out among the trees,
And calls you forth again!

This plot of orchard-ground is ours;

Published 1807.

My trees they are, my Sister's flowers;

Here rest your wings when they are weary;

Here lodge as in a sanctuary!

Come often to us, fear no wrong;

Sit near us, on the bough!

We'll talk of sunshine and of song ;

And summer days when we were young;
Sweet childish days, that were as long
As twenty days are now.

TO THE SMALL CELANDINE.

Composed April 30, 1802.

PANSIES, lilies, kingcups, daisies,
Let them live upon their praises;
Long as there's a sun that sets,
Primroses will have their glory;
Long as there are violets,

They will have a place in story:
There's a flower that shall be mine,
'Tis the little Celandine.

Published 1807.

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