Classic Poem

Hail lovely light of this material world!
Bright orb of day! from thy pavilion dark
Of wintry clouds now breaking forth again;
Once more I welcome thy unclouded beams,
With wonted splendour gilding you blue vault,
While the pure stream receives, as soft it flows,
The etherial hue upon its face imprest.
Thou most majestic of the works of God —
All nature feels, all nature owns thy power,
The tender buds cas'd in their wintry cells,
The sweet and simple flow'rets of the spring,
Wait for thy bidding to burst forth and smile,
And greet thee with a rich display of charms.
And, but for thee, those charms might bloom in vain —
Vain were creation's vast magnificence,
And all that endless gay variety
Which makes the earth a region of delight —
Were all in vain, if darkness, sable wing'd,
Had sat for ever brooding o'er the scene.
Rude barren wastes where art and industry
Ne'er tried their power to meliorate the soil,
Cheer'd by thy presence half their horrors lose;
Even winter, all unlovely as it is,
Devoid of charms, receives a charm from thee,
Which heightens into grandeur its drear scenes —
When half dissolv'd away, the fleecy snow
Still laid in scatter'd masses on the hills,
The glistening whiteness of their wintry robes,
(Illumin'd by a noontide blaze of light)
Contrasted with the rugged spots of earth,
Irregular and dark, which broke between,
Oft have I gaz'd enraptur'd at the view!
But oh! how lovely, beautiful beyond
The power of language to describe her charms,
Is nature in the glowing months of spring,
When the bright monarch of the day comes forth
Without a cloud to intercept his rays,
Gilding the mountains, rivers, woods, and plains,
Each dewy glistening shrub, and bending flower,
And shooting plant, with silv'ry tints of light.
And see, she comes! the year's first darling child!
Enchanting Spring! a soft-ey'd virgin fair,
Smiling she comes to walk Britannia's plains —
Her azure robe, spotted with fleecy clouds,
A wreath of budding foliage binds her brows
Where'er her light steps print the humid soil,
Fresh verdant herbage springs beneath her tread,
Her voice awakes the woodland minstrelsy,
With sweetest songs they hail the genial power,
And bid her welcome with a thousand notes.
Cheer'd by her presence, Flora's lovely train
Exulting leave their wintry beds once more.
The lowly daisy first its bud unfolds,
The shining king-cup spreads its golden leaves,
'Mid secret shades the purple violet blows,
And with its fragrant breath perfumes the air —
Half hid beneath a tuft of shelt'ring leaves,
The primrose ope's its mild imploring eye —
And still as lovely with retiring charms,
The cowslip bends its modest head to earth.
Even on the wild uncultivated waste
Her smile rekindles vegetable life,
And bids some inobtrusive flow'rets grow —
The fragrant wild-thyme, and the mountain gem,
The gay tormentil, bloom unheeded there;
The rugged rock with moss of every form,
And every varying colour she adorns.
Hail! life-reviving Spring, at thy return,
Earth like a beauteous new creation smiles.