His molly cottage, where with Peace he dwells;
And from the crouded fold, in order, drives
His flock, to taste the verdure of the morn.
Falfely luxurious, will not Man awake;
And, fpringing from the bed of floth, enjoy
The cool, the fragrant, and the filent hour,

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To meditation due and facred song?

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For is there aught in fleep can charm the wife?

To ly in dead oblivion, losing half

The fleeting moments of too short a life;

Total extinction of th' enlighten'd foul !
Or else to feverish vanity alive,

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Wildered, and toffing thro' diftemper'd dreams ¿
Who would in fuch a gloomy state remain
Longer than Nature craves; when every Mufe,
And every blooming pleasure wait without,
To bless the wildly-devious morning walk?
But yonder comes the powerful King of Day,
Rejoicing in the east. The leffening cloud,
The kindling azure, and the mountain's brow
Illum'd with fluid gold, his near approach
Betoken glad. Lo! how, apparent all;
Allant the dew-bright earth, and colour'd air,
He looks in boundless majesty abroad;

And sheds the shining day, that burnish'd plays

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On rocks, and hills, and towers, and wandering streams,
High-gleaming from afar. Prime chearer, Light! 90
Of all material beings firft, and beft!:

Efflux divine! Nature's refplendent robe!
Without whose vesting beauty all were wrapt
In uneffential gloon; and thou, O Sun!
Soul of furrounding worlds! in whom best seen
Shines out thy Maker! may I fing of thee?
'Tis by thy fecret, ftrong, attractive force,

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As

The ARGUMENT.

The subject proposed. Invocation. Address to Mr DODINGTON. An introductory reflection on the motion of the heavenly bodies; whence the fucceffion of the feafons. As the face of Nature in this feafon is almost uniform, the progress of the poem is a description of a fummer's day. The dawn. Sun-rifing. Hymn to the fun. Forenoon. Summer infects defcribed. Hay-making. Sheep-fhearing. Noon-day. A woodland retreat. Groupe of herds and flocks. A folemn grove': how it affects a contemplative mind. A cataract, and rude fcene. View of Summer in the torrid zone. Storm of thunder and lightening. A tale. The ftorm over, a ferene afternoon. Bathing. Hour of walking. Transition to the prospect 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 philosophy.

SUMMER.

ROM brightening fields of aether fair disclos'd,
Child of the Sun, refulgent SUMMER comes,

FR

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 blushful face; and earth, and skies,
All-fmiling, to his hot dominion leaves.

Hence, let me hafte into the mid-wood shade,
Where scarce a fun-beam wanders thro' the gloom; 10
And on the dark-green grass, beside the brink
Of haunted stream, that by the roots of oak
Rolls o'er the rocky channel, ly at large,
And fing the glories of the circling year.

Come, Inspiration from thy hermit-feat,
By mortal feldom found: may Fancy dare,
From thy fix'd ferious eye, and raptur'd glance
Shot on furrounding Heaven, to steal one look
Creative of the poet, every power
Exalting to an ecstasy of foul.

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 social sense,
By decency chaftis'd; goodness and wit,
In feldom-meeting harmony combin'd;
Unblemish'd honour, and an active zeal
For BRITAIN'S glory; Liberty, and Man:
O DODINGTON! attend my rural fong,

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