The ARGUMENT.

The Subject propos'd. Invocation. Addrefs to Mr. DoDINGTON. An introductory Reflection on the Motion of the Heavenly Bodies; whence the Succeffion of the Seasons. As the Face of Nature in this Seafon is almost uniform, the Progress of the Poem is a Defcription of a Summer's Day. The Dawn. Sun-rifing. Hymn to the Sun. Forenoon. Summer Infects defcrib'd. Hay-making. Sheep hearing. Noon-day. A woodland Retreat. Groupe of Herds and Flocks. A folemn Grove. How it affects a contemplative Mind. A Cataract, and rude Scene. View of Summer in the torrid Zone. Storm of Thunder and Lightning. A Tale. The Storm over, a ferene Afternoon. Bathing. Hour of walking. Tranfition to the Profpect of a rich well-cultivated Country ;. which introduces a Panegyric on GREat Britain. Sun-fet. Evening. Night. Summer Meteors. A Comet. The whole concluding with the Praise of Philofophy.

SUMME R.

F

ROM brightening Fields of Ether fair disclos'd,
Child of the Sun, refulgent S u MM ER comes,
In pride of Youth, and felt thro' Nature's Depth :
He comes attended by the fultry Hours,
And ever-fanning Breezes, on his way;

While, from his ardent Look, the turning SPRING
Averts her blufhful face; and Earth, and Skies,
All-fmiling, to his hot Dominion leaves.

5.

HENCE, let me hafte into the mid-wood Shade, Where fcarce a Sun-beam wanders thro' the Gloom; 10 And on the dark-green Grafs, befide the Brink Of haunted Stream, that by the Roots of Oak Rolls o'er the rocky Channel, lie at large, And fing the Glories of the circling Year.

COME, Infpiration! from thy Hermit-Seat,

By Mortal feldom found: may Fancy dare,
From thy fix'd ferious Eye, and raptur'd Glance
D 4.

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Shot

Shot on furrounding Heaven, to steal one Look
Creative of the Poet, every Power
Exalting to an Ecftafy of Soul.

AND thou, my youthful Mufe's early Friend,
In whom the Human Graces all unite :
Pure Light of Mind, and Tenderness of Heart;
Genius, and Wisdom; the gay focial Sense,
By Decency chaftis'd; Goodness and Wit,
In seldom-meeting Harmony combin’d;
Unblemish'd Honour, and an active Zeal,
For BRITAIN's Glory, Liberty, and Man:
O DODINGTON! attend my rural Sorg,
Stoop to my Theme, infpirit every Line,
And teach me to deferve thy juft Applaufe.

WITH what an awful world-revolving Power,
Were first th' unwieldy Planets launch'd along
Th' illimitable Void! Thus to remain,
Amid the Flux of many thousand Years,
That oft has fwept the toiling Race of Men,
And all their labour'd Monuments away,
Firm, unremitting, matchiefs, in their Course;
To the kind-temper'd Change of Night and Day,
And of the Seafons ever ftealing round,
Minutely faithful: Such TH'ALL-PERFECT HAND,
That pois'd, impels, and rules the steady Whole.

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WHEN

WHEN now no more th' alternate Twins are fir'd, And Cancer reddens with the folar Blaze,

Short is the doubtful Empire of the Night;
And foon, obfervant of approaching Day,

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The meek-ey'd Morn appears, Mother of Dews,
At first faint gleaming in the dappled Eaft:
Till far o'er Ether fpreads the widening Glow;
And, from before the Luftre of her Face,
White break the Clouds away. With quicken'd Step, 50
Brown Night retires. Young Day pours in apace,
And opens all the lawny Profpect wide.

The dripping Rock the Mountain's misty Top
Swell on the Sight, and brighten with the Dawn.
Blue, thro the Dufk, the fmoaking Currents fhine; 55
And from the bladed field the fearful Hare
Limps, aukward: while along the Forest-glade
The wild Deer trip, and often turning gaze
At early Paffenger. Mufick awakes,
The native Voice of undiffembled Joy;
And thick around the woodland Hymns arise.
Rous'd by the Cock, the foon-clad Shepherd leaves
His moffy Cottage, where with Peace he dwells;
And from the crouded Fold, in Order, drives
His Flock, to taste the Verdure of the Morn.

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FALSELY luxurious, will not Man awake;
And, fpringing from the Bed of Sloth, enjoy
D 5

The

The cool, the fragrant, and the filent Hour,

'To Meditation due, and facred Song ?

For is there aught in Sleep can charm the Wife?

To lie in dead Oblivion, lofing half

The fleeting Moments of too fhort a Life?

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Total extinction of th' enlighten'd Soul;
Or elfe to feverish Vanity alive,

Wilder'd, and toffing thro diftemper'd Dreams?
Who would in such a gloomy State remain,

Longer than Nature craves;

when every Muse

And every blooming Pleasure wait without,

To blefs the wildly-devious Morning-walk?

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BUT yonder comes the powerful King of Day, 80
Rejoicing in the Eaft. The leffening Cloud,
The kindling Azure, and the Mountain's Brow
Illum'd with fluid Gold, his near Approach
Betoken glad. Lo! now apparent all,

Aflant the dew-bright Earth, and colour'd Air,
He looks in boundless Majesty abroad;

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And sheds the fhining Day, that burnish'd plays
On Rocks, and Hills, and Towers, and wandering Streams,
High-gleaming from afar. Prime Chearer Light!
Of all material Beings firft, and beft!

Eflux divine! Nature's refplendent Robe!
Without whofe vefting Beauty all were wrapt

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In uneffential Gloom; and thou, O Sun!

Soul