A Morning Elegy

Hail, bright-eyed harbinger of sacred light! Nature, refresh'd, beholds thy cheering ray, At thy approach the gloomy shades of night, And all its dreary horrors, pass away:

Yet not to him, within whose manly breast Reason, with olive-twined sceptre, sways, I there in darkness aught that can molest; But nights serene succeed to virtuous days.

Unlike that Lucifer whose baleful reign Excites to every deed of foulest dye, Repine and Lust, and all the savage train Retire, abash'd, before thy holy eye.

With silver hair, bright-flowing in the east, And ruby-tinctur'd mantle, lightly spread, With pearl-bestudded girdle bound her vest, Aurora rises from her coral bed.

I feel her sweet breath in the balmy gale, Purging from noxious fumes the humid air, Shedding fresh odours on the flowery vale, And genuine roses on the village fair.

I see the dappled fleece, her favourite woof, And golden-fringed clouds adorn the sky, Skimming with light wing o'er its azure roof, And softening every object to the eye.

While yet the mind retains her tranquil ease, From day's perplexing cares and passions free. While Nature's charms are best array'd to please, And Health and Pleasure join in amity,

Oft let me rove beneath thy gentle beam, Ere sultry Phoebus mounts his burning throne, And to the soaring sky-lark's grateful theme, In numbers less melodious join my own:

And as I range th' ambrosial fields along, Or climb the verdant hills unshaded height, Pause on those blessings that inspire my song, And gather thence instruction and delight.

Springs not a blade upon the spacious plain, Bends not a flower beneath the crystal tear, Chirps not an insect of the turf in vain; But Contemplation Wisdom's voice can hear.

See! yonder feather'd parent, skimming round, Sudden she darts upon her humble food: Yet, nobly scorning hunger, spurns the ground, And soars aloft, to serve her callow brood:

Sweet moralist! to reason-vaunting man Thy generous lesson teach; oft, in thy place, Despising Nature's all-instructive plan, He feeds his follies, and neglects his race.

What sudden burst of oriental rays Disturbs the peaceful musings of my breast, Involves the ample firmament in blaze, And shoots its glories to the distant west?

How bright the scene! magnificent and large, The orb of light reveals his glorious face, Rejoicing in his high Creator's charge, To spread his bounties thro' the realms of space.

Fitted to mortal eye, thy splendors mild More great appear than at meridian height; So shone the holy Virgin's heavenly child, Disclosing grace divine to human sight.

In prime advancing, now the jocund day, Laughs in the fulness of unclouded joy, Fresh-springing flowrets strew his radiant way, The woodland harmonists their notes employ:

From hill to dale, from grove to verd'rous spring, Sweet sounds, responsive, fill the ambient air, Sweet sounds, responsive, make the valleys ring, And banish thence the family of care:

Nor cheerless is the herd's majestic low, Loud-calling for the milk-maid's easing hand, Or white slocks bleating on the mountain's brow, Or plowman's whistling o'er his furrow'd land.

Ye blest inhabitants of fields and shades, Elysium soft of undisturb'd repose! No artificial want your breast invades, No painful foretaste of succeeding woes:

By simple instinct led, to you unknown The tender throb of exquisite desire; The wealth of Avarice, and Ambition's throne, No raging wish, no discontent inspire:

To you sufficing, that the genial beam Of day's enlivening planet wakes to joy, Satiate, ye quaff the pure untainted stream, And feast on dainties that can never cloy.

O! to my heart your sacred lore convey, Let Nature be my wealth, my joy, my guide, And be the business of each rising day To check my wants, my passions, and my pride.