AUGUST.

And Cuddie, freshe Cuddie, the liefest1 boye,

How dolefully his dole2 thou didst rehearse!

117

CUD. Then blow your pypes, shepheards, till you be at home;

The night higheth fast, yts time to be gone.

"The meaning hereof is verie ambiguous: for Perigot by his poesie claiming the conquest, and Willye not yeelding, Cuddie, the arbiter of theyr cause and patron of his owne, seemeth to challenge it as his due, saying, that hee is happie which can; so abruptly ending; but hee meeneth eyther him that can win the best, or moderate himselfe being best, and leave off with the best." E. K.

SPENSER.

118

THE MORNING WALK.

THE MORNING WALK.

To the beech-grove with so sweet an air

It beckoned me.

O earth! that never the cruel ploughshare
Had furrowed thee!

In their dark shelter the flowerets grew,
Bright to the eye,

And smiled by my foot on the cloudless blue
Which decked the sky.

*

O lovely field and forest fair,

And meads grass-clad!

Her bride-bed Freya everywhere

Enamelled had.

The corn-flowers rose in azure band

From earthly cell;

Nought else could I do, but stop and stand.
And greet them well.

"Welcome on earth's green breast again,

Ye flowerets dear!

In spring how charming 'mid the grain

Your heads ye rear!

THE MORNING WALK.

Like stars 'midst lightning's yellow ray

Ye shine, red, blue:

O how your summer aspect gay
Delights my view!"

"O poet! poet! silence keep,

God help thy case!

Our owner holds us sadly cheap,

And scorns our race.

Each time he sees, he calls us scum,
Or worthless tares,

Hell-weeds, that but to vex him come

'Midst his corn-ears."

"O wretched mortals !-O wretched man!—

O wretched crowd!

No pleasures ye pluck, no pleasures ye plan,
In life's lone road,-

Whose eyes are blind to the glories great
Of the works of God,

119

And dream that the mouth is the nearest gate

To joy's abode.

"Come, flowers! for we to each other belong;

Come, graceful elf!

120

MAY SONG.

And around my lute in sympathy strong

Now wind thyself;

And quake as if moved by Zephyr's wing,
'Neath the clang of the chord,

And a morning song with glee we'll sing

To our Maker and Lord."

OEHLENSCHLAGER.

MAY SONG.

MAY, Sweet May, again is come,

May, that frees the land from gloom;
Children, children, up, and see

All her stores of jollity!

On the laughing hedgerow's side

She hath spread her treasures wide;

She is in the greenwood shade,
Where the nightingale hath made

Every branch and every tree
Ring with her sweet melody;

Hill and dale are May's own treasures.
Youths, rejoice! In sportive measures

Sing ye join the chorus gay!
Hail this merry, merry May!

SUMMER PLEASURES.

Up, then, children! we will go
Where the blooming roses grow;
In a joyful company

We the bursting flowers will see:
Up, your festal dress prepare!
Where gay hearts are meeting, there
May hath pleasures most inviting,
Heart and sight and ear delighting.
Listen to the birds' sweet song:
Hark! how soft it floats along!

Courtly dames, our pleasures share!
Never saw I May so fair;

Therefore dancing will we go.

Youths, rejoice! the flowerets blow!

Sing ye! join the chorus gay!

Hail this merry, merry May!

121

CONRAD VON Kirchberg.

SUMMER PLEASURES.

WHO would summer pleasures try,

Let him to the meadows hie.

O'er the mountain, in the vale

Gladsome sounds and sights prevail :