Or wheel about, all in and out,

As if within a maze;

A pleating neat those ribbons sweet,

Whilst all the village gaze.

In fact, all nature is alive!

And everything awake,

In woodland, moorland, meadow, hive,

In river, sea, and lake.

For 'tis the spring,--the time of flowers!
The marriage of the earth!—

The season when soft vernal showers,
Dispel dull winter's dearth!

Oh! who can thus each passing year,
Such resurrection see!

Without a thought of future life,

And faith, dear Lord, in Thee?

If such there are, their souls are dead;

I pity their estate!

No God, no hope, no life beyond!

Oh, most unhappy fate!

To such, O Lord, Thy Spirit give,
That 'neath its living ray,

The icy fogs in which they live,

May soon dissolve away.

Then, as their range of vision clears,

Like sailors on life's sea,

Who can discern their whereabouts;

So may they steer to Thee!

Composed at Brawby at various intervals during the springs of 189091; finished June 6, 1891.

A COUNTRY WALK.

I.

ONE morn I sauntered through the fields,
And crossed a tiny brook;

Which wander'd winding through the meads,
Beside the path I took.

An old and weather-beaten plank,

Grown o'er in various parts,

With lichens, moss, and fungi red,
Like various coloured warts,

Did duty for a rustic bridge,

Athwart the stream below;

Which, rippling pleasantly along,

With sparkling crystal flow,

Gave life and beauty to the scene,

And verdure to the bank; And fed the glowing marigolds,

And sword-like rushes rank.

Awhile I stood and gazed down,

Into the waters clear;

And viewed the speckled minnows crowd, Like herd of startled deer,

Amid the cresses green and weeds,—

The forests of their home,

Or dart athwart the wavy sands,
Which girt them like a zone.

How often had I when a boy
Such captured as a prize,
To place within a glass jar cell,
And view their gem-like eyes,

Their silver breasts and golden sides,
Their tiny fins and tail,

As skilfully they swam about,

Whilst flashed their burnished mail.

II.

As thus I stood I saw a leaf

Fall fluttering from a tree; 'Twas lovely with autumnal tints, Most beautiful to see!

I watched it as it settled down

Upon the purling stream, And saw it as it floated by,

To vanish from the scene

Amid the windings of the banks,
Which hid it from my view;
And thus methought our little lives
Float on and vanish, too.

Men see us for a brief short time

Adorn the Tree of Life,

Till widening space of four-score years, Removes us from the strife.

Like leaves we come forth in the spring,

The early days of youth;

Then all is joyous happiness,

And free from bitter ruth.

The summer comes, to manhood grown

We flourish as the bay,

Till autumn with its frosts sets in,

The heralds of decay.

Our years advance, then winter comes;

We

pass into the sere ;

As yellow leaves fall from the trees

We fall and disappear

Into that ever-flowing stream

Whose name is Time and Death, Upon whose breast the Tree of Life Sheds leaves at every breath.

'Tis thus we spend the seasons here,
Mid sunshine, storm, and rain,
While some at every season fall,
In winter few remain.

But scattered far on every hand
Mid hedgerows, fields, and lane,
The sport of many a ruffian blast
Which roars along the plain.

We find at length a resting-place
Far from the parent tree;
And there together and unknown
We sleep most peacefully.

III.

And musing thus, I onward sped,

Yet halted soon again

To listen to the skylark's song,

A most delicious strain.

Mid that green mead all clover-clad,
And fresh with morning dew,
I stood entranced, gazing up,

The minstrel's form to view