THE FIRST LEAF OF SPRING
Written on the First Leaf of a Lady's Album
Thou fragile, filmy, gossamery thing,
First leaf of spring!
At every lightest breath that quakest,
And with a zephyr shakest;
Scarce stout enough to hold thy slender form together,
In calmest halcyon weather;
Next sister to the web that spiders weave,
Poor flutterers to deceive
Into their treacherous silken bed:
O! how art thou sustained, how nourishèd !
All trivial as thou art,
Without dispute,
Thou play'st a mighty part ;
And art the herald to a throng
Of buds, blooms, fruit,
That shall thy cracking branches sway,
While birds on every spray
Shall pay the copious fruitage with a sylvan song.
So 'tis with thee, whoe'er on thee shall look,
First leaf of this beginning modest book.
Slender thou art, God knowest,
And little grace bestowest,
But in thy train shall follow after,
Wit, wisdom, seriousness, in hand with laughter ;
Provoking jests, restraining soberness,
In their appropriate dress;
And I shall joy to be outdone
By those who brighter trophies won ;
That I thy slender promise have begun,
First leaf.
TO MRS. FIELD]
On Her Return from Gibraltar
Jane, you are welcome from the barren Rock,
And Calpe's sounding shores. Oh do not mock,
Now you have rais'd, our greetings; nor again
Ever revisit that dry nook of Spain.
Friends have you here, and friendships to command,
In merry England. Love this hearty land.
Ease, comfort, competence of these possess'd,
Let prodigal adventurers seek the rest:
Dear England is as you,-a Field the Lord hath blest.
TO M[ARY] L[AETITIA] F[IELD]
(Expecting to See Her Again after a Long Interval) How many wasting, many wasted years,
Have run their round, since I beheld your face!
In Memory's dim eye it yet appears
Crowned, as it then seemed, with a chearful grace.
Young prattling Maiden, on the Thames' fair side,
Enlivening pleasant Sunbury with your smiles,
Time may have changed you: coy reserve, or pride,
To sullen looks reduced those mirthful wiles.
I will not 'bate one smile on that clear brow,
But take of Time a rigorous account,
When next I see you; and Maria now
Must be the Thing she was. To what amount
These verses else?—all hollow and untrue
This was not writ, these lines not meant, for You.
TO ESTHER FIELD
Esther, holy name and sweet,
Smoothly runs on even feet,
To the mild Acrostic bending;
Hebrew recollections blending.
Ever keep that Queen in view-
Royal namesake-bold, and true!
Firm she stood in evil times,
In the face of Haman's crimes.-
Ev'n as She, do Thou possess
Loftiest virtue in the dress,
Dear F, of native loveliness.
[TO MRS. WILLIAMS]
(1830)
Go little Poem, and present
Respectful terms of compliment;
A gentle lady bids thee speak!
Courteous is she, tho' thou be weak-
Evoke from Heaven as thick as manna
Joy after joy on Grace Joanna :
On Fornham's Glebe and Pasture land
A blessing pray. Long, long may stand,
Not touched by Time, the Rectory blithe;
No grudging churl dispute his Tithe
At Easter be the offerings due
With cheerful spirit paid; each pew
In decent order filled; no noise
Loud intervene to drown the voice,
Learning, or wisdom of the Teacher ;
Impressive be the Sacred Preacher,
And strict his notes on holy page
May young and old from age to age
Salute, and still point out, 'The good man's Parsonage !'
Little Casket! Storehouse rare
Of rich conceits, to please the Fair!
Happiest he of mortal men,
(I crown him monarch of the pen,)—
To whom Sophia deigns to give
The flattering prerogative
To inscribe his name in chief,
On thy first and maiden Leaf.
When thy pages shall be full
Of what brighter wits can cull
Of the Tender or Romantic,
Creeping Prose or Verse Gigantic,—
Which thy spaces so shall cram
That the Bee-like Epigram
(Which a two-fold tribute brings,
Honey gives at once, and stings,)
Hath not room left wherewithal
To infix its tiny scrawl;
Haply some more youthful swain,
Striving to describe his pain,
And the Damsel's ear to seize
With more expressive lays than these,
When he finds his own excluded
And these counterfeits intruded ;
While, loitering in the Muse's bower,
He overstayed the eleventh hour,
Till the tables filled-shall fret,
Die, or sicken with regret
Or into a shadow pine:
While this triumphant verse of mine,
Like to some favoured stranger-guest,
Bidden to a good man's Feast
Shall sit by merit less than fate-
In the upper Seat in State.
TO S[OPHIA] F[REND]
Solemn Legends we are told
Of bright female Names of old,
Phyllus fair, Laodameia,
Helen, but methinks Sophia
Is a name of better meaning
And a sort of Christian leaning.
For it Wisdom means, which passes
Rubies, pearls, or golden masses.
Ever try that Name to merit ;
Never quit what you inherit,
Duly from your Father's spirit.
TO R[OTHA] Q[UILLINAN]
ROTHA, how in numbers light,
Ought I to express thee?
Take my meaning in its flight-
Haste imports not always slight--
And believe, I bless thee.
[To Edward Hogg]
Envy not the wretched Poet
Doomed to pen these teasing strains,
Wit so cramped, ah, who can show it,
Are the trifles worth the pains.
Rhyme compared with this were easy,
Double Rhymes may not displease ye.
Homer, Horace sly and caustic,
Owed no fame to vile acrostic.
G's, I am sure, the Readers choked with, Good men's names must not be joked with.
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