Lines on the Evening and Morning

Lines on the Evening and Morning

When evening bids the sun to rest retire,
Unwearied Either sets her lamps on fire,
Lit by one torch, each is supplied in turn,
`Till all the candles in the concave burn.

The right hawk now with his nocturnal tone
Wakes up, and all the owls begin to moan,
Or heave from dreary vales their dismal song,
Whilst in the air the meteors play along.

At length the silver queen begins to rise
And spread her glowing mantle in the skies,
And from the smiling chamber of the east,
Invites the eye to her resplendent feast.

What joy is this into the rustic swain
Who from the mount surveys the moonlight plain,
Who with the spirit of a dauntless Pan.
Controls his fleecy train and leads the van;

Or pensive, muses on the water's side,
Which purling doth thro' green meanders glide
With watchful care he broods his heart away
Till night is swallowed in the flood of day.

The meteors cease to play, that mov'd so fleet
And spectres from the murky groves retreat,
The prowling wolf withdraws, which howl'd so bold,
And bleating lambs may venture from their fold

The night-hawk's din deserts the shepherd' ear,
Succeeded by the huntsman's trumpet clear,
O come Diana start the morning chase
Thou ancient goddess of the hunting race.

Aurora's smiles adorn the mountain's brow,
The peasant hums delighted at his plow,
And lo, the dairy maid salutes her bounteous cow.

Mr. George M. Horton

2:21, p. 166

1828.08.15