An Early Summer Morning.
Lo ! how the mists, that until now have curled1
About the emerald vales and mountains dun,2
Roll off the awakened, or awaking, world,3
Chased by the beams of the uprising sun.4
A while, and the sweet sunlight freely falls5
In silvery brightness over all the land ;6
And low-roofed cots and stately terraced halls7
All grandly glowing in the splendour stand.8
Groups of gay children, sallying out in strings9
Along the lanes, make musical the air,10
Mocking the cuckoo-bird. The skylark sings,11
A speck in far blue space ; while here and there12
Fleet swallows skim, with wings for sails and oars,13
O’er billowy grass that beats on hedgerow shores.14