See where the winding vale its lavish stores,
Irriguous, spreads. See, how the lily drinks
The latent rill, scarce oozing through the grass,
In fair profusion, decks. Long let us walk,
Where the breeze blows from yon extended field
Of blossom’d beans. Arabia cannot boast
A fuller gale of joy, than, liberal, thence
Breathes through the sense, and takes the ravish’d soul.
Nor is the mead unworthy of thy foot,
Full of fresh verdure and unnumber’d flowers,
The negligence of nature, wide and wild;
Where, undisguised by mimic art, she spreads
Unbounded beauty to the roving eye.
Here their delicious task the fervent bees,
In swarming millions, tend: around, athwart,
Through the soft air, the busy nations fly,
Cling to the bud, and, with inserted tube,
Suck its pure essence, its ethereal soul;
And oft, with bolder wing, they soaring dare
The purple heath, or where the wild thyme grows,
And yellow load them with the luscious spoil.
At length the finish’d garden to the view
Its vistas opens, and its alleys, green.
Snatch’d through the verdent maze, the buried eye
Distracted wanders; now the bowery walk
Of covert close, where scarce a speck of day
Falls on the lengthen’d gloom, protracted sweeps;
Now meets the bending sky; the river now
Dimpling along, the breezy-ruffled lake.
The forest darkening round, the glittering spire,
Th’ ethereal mountain, and the distant main.
(James Thomson)
More Poetry from James Thomson:
James Thomson Poems based on Topics: Nature, Soul, Joy & Excitement, Fairness, Flowers, Sense & Perception, Art, Sadness, Liberal- A Poem Sacred to the Memory of Sir Isaac Newton (James Thomson Poems)
- On Happiness (James Thomson Poems)
- A Hymn (James Thomson Poems)
- Psalm CIV. Paraphrased (James Thomson Poems)
- On A Country Life (James Thomson Poems)
- On Beauty (James Thomson Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Sadness Poems, Soul Poems, Nature Poems, Joy & Excitement Poems, Fairness Poems, Sense & Perception Poems, Flowers Poems, Art Poems, Liberal PoemsBased on Keywords: inserted, undisguised, irriguous