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LANDSCAPE LYRICS.

No. I.—SUNRISE.

Table of Contents

Spread are dawn's radiant wings,

Its dazzling feet pursue their silent way,

Leaving no shadow, for each coming ray

A general brightness brings.

The vapour from the brow

Of the old mountain crests, begins to part,

Like care from off the forehead, and the heart—

And all is cloudless now!

The universal air,

The smiling sky, and the far-stretching mead—

All nature, in its varied forms agreed,

Mingle their beauties there!

The ripple of the wave,

Beachward returning to the distant shore,

Like a lone pilgrim to the cottage door,

That once a welcome gave:

The new-waked laureat bee,

On the flower-blossom, breathing in its mirth,

Its conch-like matin song, to greet the earth,

With ever grateful glee!

The landscape's free expanse,

And all the harmonies that, spread around,

Combine the joys of hearing, sight, and sound,

Are gathered at a glance;

And powerfully they tell,

With deeper eloquence than notes divine,

Of many things that round our heart-strings twine,

And in our fancies dwell;

Of boyhood's sportive days,

The thymy glade, the daisy blooming there,

The vale remote, or lake secluded, where

The smiling sunbeam plays;

The gay flowers on the plain,

Gemming the mead, perfuming all the wood;

As if each Summer morn was Spring renew'd,

Or May-day come again!

The music of the birds,

Telling all sleepers of the birth of day,

And, with reviving Nature, haste to pay

Their homage, not in words!

The dreamy waterfall,

Babbling and bubbling from the upland spring;

The soaring crag where eaglets rest their wing,

Listening the eagle's call:

The minstrel streamlet near,

The zephyr's breath, too languid for a breeze,

That stirs, yet scarcely moves, the gentle trees,

Touching the waters clear.

The sunrays, as they pass

Into broad sunshine, throw their light on all,

With bloom and blossom, whereso'er they fall;

On mount, or meadow-grass.

And something more than light

Sleeps on the verdant hill-side; dreams of love,

And glimpses of the happier state above,

Burst on the mental sight.