WHERE the pheasant roosts at night,
Lonely, drowsy, out of sight,
Where the evening breezes sigh
Solitary, there stray I.
Close along the shaded stream,
Source of many a youthful dream,
Where branchy cedars dim the day
There I muse, and there I stray.
Yet, what can please amid this bower,
That charmed the eye for many an hour!
The budding leaf is lost to me,
And dead the bloom on every tree.
The winding stream, that glides along,
The lark, that tunes her early song,
The mountain’s brow, the sloping vale,
The murmuring of the western gale,
Have lost their charms!–the blooms are gone!
Trees put a darker aspect on,
The stream disgusts that wanders by,
And every zephyr brings a sigh.
Great guardian of our feeble kind!–
Restoring Nature, lend thine aid!
And o’er the features of the mind
Renew those colors, that must fade,
When vernal suns forbear to roll,
And endless winter chills the soul.
(Philip Freneau)
More Poetry from Philip Freneau:
Philip Freneau Poems based on Topics: Nature, Mind, Soul, Dreams, Night, Sense & Perception- On the Ruins of a Country Inn (Philip Freneau Poem)
- To Mr. Blanchard, the Celebrated Aeronaut in America (Philip Freneau Poem)
- Song of Thyrsis (Philip Freneau Poem)
- On the Universality and Other Attributes of the God of Nature (Philip Freneau Poem)
- The Republican Genius of Europe (Philip Freneau Poem)
- To A New England Poet (Philip Freneau Poem)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Night Poems, Mind Poems, Soul Poems, Nature Poems, Sense & Perception Poems, Dreams PoemsBased on Keywords: blooms, colors, breezes, lark, murmuring, darker, tunes, shaded, restoring, zephyr, cedars