Ever let the Fancy roam, Pleasure
never is at home: At
a touch sweet Pleasure melteth, Like
to bubbles when rain pelteth; Then
let winged Fancy wander Through
the thought still spread beyond her: Open
wide the mind’s cage-door, She’ll
dart forth, and cloudward soar. O
sweet Fancy! let her loose; Summer’s
joys are spoil by use, And
the enjoying of the spring Fades
as does its blossoming; Autumn’s
red-lipp’d fruitage too, Blushing
through the mist and dew, Cloys
with tasting: What do then? Sit
thee by the ingle, when The
sear faggot blazes bright, Spirit
of a winter’s night; Spirit
of a winter’s night; When
the soundless earth is muffled, And
the caked snow is shuffled From
the ploughboy’s heavy shoon; When
the Night doth meet the Noon In
a dark conspiracy To
banish Even from her sky. Sit
thee there, and send abroad, With
a mind self-overaw’d, Fancy,
high-commission’d:—send her! She
has vassals to attend her: She
will bring, in spite of frost, Beauties
that the earth hath lost; She
will bring thee, all together, All
delights of summer weather; All
the buds and bells of May, From
dewy sward or thorny spray; All
the heaped autumn’s wealth, With
a still, mysterious stealth: She
will mix these pleasures up Like
three fit wines in a cup, And
thou shalt quaff it:—thou shalt hear Distant
harvest-carols clear; Rustle
of the reaped corn; Sweet
birds antheming the morn: And,
in the same moment—hark! ’Tis
the early April lark, Or
the rooks, with busy cw, Foraging
for sticks and straw. Thou
shalt, at one glance, behold The
daisy and the marigold; White-plum’d
lilies, and the first Hedge-grown
primrose that hath burst; Shaded
hyacinth, always Sapphire
queen of the mid-May; And
every leaf, and every flower Pearled
with the self-same shower. Thou
shalt see the field-mouse peep Meager
from its celled sleep; And
the snake all winter-thin Cast
on sunny bank its skin; Freckled
nest-eggs thou shalt see Hatching
in the hawthorn-tree, When
the hen-bird’s wing doth rest Quiet
on her mossy nest; Then
the hurry and alarm When
the bee-hive casts its swarm; Acorns
ripe down-pattering, While
the autumn breezes sing. Oh,
sweet Fancy! let her loose; Every
thing is spoilt by use: Where’s
the cheek that doth not fade, Too
much gaz’d at? Where’s the maid Whose
lip mature is ever new? Where’s
the eye, however blue, Doth
not weary? Where’s the face One
would meet in every place? Where’s
the voice, however soft, One
would hear so very oft? At
a touch sweet Pleasure melteth Like
to bubbles when rain pelteth. Let,
then, winged Fancy find Thee
a mistress to thy mind: Dulcet-eyed
as Ceres’ daughter, Ere
the God of Torment taught her How
to frown and how to chide; With
a waist and with a side White
as Hebe’s, when her zone Slipt
its golden clasp, and down Fell
her kirtle to her feet, While
she held the goblet sweet, And
Jove grew languid. ––Break the mesh Of
the Fancy’s silken leash; Quickly
break her prison-string And
such joys as these she’ll bring— Let
the winged Fancy roam, Pleasure
never is at home. December 1818. |
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