Excerpt from The Poetical Works of Thomson and Gray Of shadowing roses, on our plains descend. O Hertford,1 fitted or to shine in courts With unaffected grace, or walk the plain With innocence and meditation joined In soft assemblage, listen to my song, Which thy own Season paints 3 when Nature all Is blooming and benevolent, like thee. And see where surly Winter passes off, Far to the north, and calls his ruffian blasts: His blasts obey, and quit the howling hill, The shattered forest, and the ravished vale 3 While softer gales succeed, at whose kind touch, Dissolving snows in livid torrents lost, The mountains lift their green heads to the sky. As yet the trembling year is unconfirmed, And \vinter oft at eve resumes the breeze, Chills the pale mom, and bids his driving sleets Deform the day delightless 3 so that scarce The bittern knows his time with bill ingulphed To shake the sounding marsh 3 or from the shore The plovers when to scatter o'er the heath, And sing their wild notes to the listening waste. At last from Aries rolls the bounteous sun, And the bright Bull receives him. Then no more The expansive atmosphere is cramped with cold 3 But, full oflife and vivifying soul, Lifts the light clouds sublime, and spreads them thin, Fleecy, and white, o'er all surrounding heaven. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.