Paulò majora canamus. ODE.

There was a time when meadow, grove, and stream,

The earth, and every common sight,

To me did seem

Apparell'd in celestial light,

The glory and the freshness of a dream.
It is not now as it has been of yore;-

Turn wheresoe'er I may,

By night or day,

The things which I have seen I now can see no more.

The Rainbow comes and goes,

And lovely is the Rose,

H2

The Moon doth with delight

Look round her when the heavens are bare;

Waters on a starry night

Are beautiful and fair;

The sunshine is a glorious birth;

But yet I know, where'er I go,

That there hath pass'd away a glory from the eartlı..

Now, while the Birds thus sing a joyous song,
And while the young Lambs bound
As to the tabor's sound,

To me alone there came a thought of grief:
A timely utterance gave that thought relief,

And I again am strong.

The Cataracts blow their trumpets from the steep,
No more shall grief of mine the season wrong;
I hear the Echoes through the mountains throng,
The Winds come to me from the fields of sleep,

And all the earth is gay,
Land and sea

Give themselves up to jollity,

And with the heart of May

Doth every Beast keep holiday,

Thou Child of Joy

Shout round me, let me hear thy shouts, thou happy

Shepherd Boy!

Ye blessed Creatures, I have heard the call

Ye to each other make; I see

The heavens laugh with you in your jubilee;
My heart is at your festival,

My head hath it's coronal,

The fullness of your bliss, I feel - I feel it all.
Oh evil day! if I were sullen

While the Earth herself is adorning,

This sweet May-morning,

And the Children are pulling,