I.
Come away! Come away!
Flow’rs are fresh, and fields are gay!
Spring her early charms discovers;
Now the yellow butterfly,
Herself a flying primrose, hovers
O’er the primrose restlessly.
I will show thee where to choose
Violets of unnumber’d hues
(Glittering fresh with vernal rain),
From the blue of deepest stain,
To those that spells of frolic spite
Have bleach’d into unsullied white.
I will show thee where to cull
Wild hyacinths, as beautiful
As he who gave them their sweet name
With a dearly-purchas’d fame,
The youth Apollo lov’d and slew
(All, I ween, his favors rue).
I will lead thee, where the star
Of copses glitters from afar,
The virgin-leaf’d anemone;
Or we to greener banks will flee,
Where the slender harebell pale
Stoops bowing to the gusty gale.
II.
Come away! Come away!
Morning doffs her wimple gray!
And her bashful face discloses,
Freshly bath’d in rainbow dews,
Blushing, like the virgin roses,
That unite the rival hues.
We will climb the hill’s steep brow,
And o’ergaze the woods below,
Where the tops of various trees
Sink, fore-shorten’d by degrees,
Spring’s first, light powdering of green.
Or, in secret dell, we’ll view
The budding hawthorn’s tender hue,
Contrasted with the relics sere
Of the sad-departed year.
I mark’d one in the parky glade
‘Neath a broad oak’s lofty shade,
Rearing high its graceful head,
With tassell’d woodbine garlanded:
It almost seem’d a living thing,
Come forth to greet the breathing Spring
Haste thee then, for fiery June
Will tarnish all this freshness soon.
III.
Come away! Come away!
Calmly dies the golden day,
To the dell, and shady fountain,
Though the cheering sun be set,
Fringing yonder western mountain.
Upward glance his glories yet.
Palely clear, Night’s earliest star
Rises o’er the woods afar,
Growing momently more bright
With the slow decay of light,
Ennobling, like a matchless gem,
Now a soften’d darkness spreads
About the trees’ umbrageous heads.
The bat, on free and frolic wing,
Is with Zephyr gamboling.
The blackbird’s rich delicious note
From the tangled copse doth float;
On the poplar, as he sings,
The throstle claps his gladsome wings.
Through joyous Nature’s wide domain,
Lake, river, forest, mountain, plain,
Fragrance, love, and harmony
Kindle the vernal extasy.
(Chauncey Hare Townsend)
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Based on Topics: Love Poems, Night Poems, Light Poems, Nature Poems, Youth Poems, Spring Poems, Morning Poems, Fame Poems, Secrets Poems, Flying Poems, Breathing PoemsBased on Keywords: ennobling, wimple, umbrageous, momently, palely, fringing, contrasted, doffs, extasy, tassell, powdering
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