Thomas Humphry Ward, ed. The English Poets. 1880–1918.rnVol. III. The Eighteenth Century: Addison to Blake
Anna Letitia Barbauld (17431825)Ode to Spring
S
Hoar Winter’s blooming child; delightful Spring!
Whose unshorn locks with leaves
And swelling buds are crowned;
Crowned with fresh blooms and ever springing shade;
Turn, hither turn thy step,
O thou, whose powerful voice
Or Lydian flute, can soothe the madding winds,
And through the stormy deep
Breathe thine own tender calm.
With songs and festal rites, and joy to rove
Thy blooming wilds among,
And vales and dewy lawns,
To weave fresh garlands for the glowing brow
Of him, the favoured youth
That prompts their whispered sigh.
That drop their sweetness on the infant buds;
And silent dews that swell
The milky ear’s green stem,
And call those winds which through the whispering boughs
With warm and pleasant breath
Salute the blowing flowers.
And mark thy spreading tints steal o’er the dale,
And watch with patient eye
Thy fair unfolding charms.
With bashful forehead through the cool moist air
Throws his young maiden beams,
And with chaste kisses wooes
Of lucid clouds with wind and frequent shade
Protects thy modest blooms
From his severer blaze.
Shall scorch thy tresses, and the mower’s scythe
Thy greens, thy flowerets all
Remorseless shall destroy.
For O not all that Autumn’s lap contains,
Nor Summer’s ruddiest fruits,
Can aught for thee atone,
Than all their largest wealth, and through the heart
Each joy and new-born hope
With softest influence breathes.