SPRING, the sweet Spring, is the year's pleasant king; The palm and may make country houses gay, The fields breathe sweet, the daisies kiss our feet, In every street these tunes our ears do greet, Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo ! 8 Spring! the sweet Spring! Ariel's Song COME unto these yellow sands, And then take hands: Courtsied when you Nashe. have and kiss'd The wild waves whist : Foot it featly here and there ; And, sweet sprites, the burden bear. BURDEN (dispersedly). Bowgh, waugh, ARIEL. The watch-dogs bark: BURDEN (dispersedly). Bowgh, waugh. ARIEL. Hark, hark! I hear The strain of strutting chanticleer whist] hushed. Shakespeare. burden] refrain. WHERE the bee sucks, there suck I : In a cowslip's bell I lie; There I couch when owls do cry. On the bat's back I do fly Merrily, merrily shall I live now ΙΟ Under the blossom that hangs on the bough. II Puck's Song OVER hill, over dale, Shakespeare. Thorough bush, thorough brier, Thorough flood, thorough fire, In those freckles live their savours: Meg Merrilies I OLD Meg she was a Gipsy, And lived upon the moors: Shakespeare. Her bed it was the brown heath turf, And her house was out of doors. thorough] through. dew her orbs] bedew the fairy rings. II Her apples were swart blackberries, Her currants pods.o' broom; Her wine was dew of the wild white rose, Her book a churchyard tomb. III Her Brothers were the craggy hills, IV No breakfast had she many a morn, And 'stead of supper she would stare But every morn of Woodbine fresh And every night the dark glen Yew VI And with her fingers old and brown VII Old Meg was brave as Margaret Queen An old red blanket cloak she wore ; God rest her aged bones somewhere— Keats. 12 13 Weathers I THIS is the weather the cuckoo likes, And so do I ; When showers betumble the chestnut spikes, And the little brown nightingale bills his best, II This is the weather the shepherd shuns, When beeches drip in browns and duns, The hill-hid tides throb, throe on throe, And drops on gate-bars hang in a row, And so do I. Winter Thomas Hardy. WHEN icicles hang by the wall, And Dick the shepherd blows his nail, And milk comes frozen home in pail, To-whit! To-who-a merry note, While greasy Joan doth keel the pot. thresh and ply] toss and bend. keel] cool, by stirring or adding something to prevent boiling over. When all aloud the wind doth blow, And coughing drowns the parson's saw, And Marian's nose looks red and raw, Then nightly sings the staring owl, To-who!—a merry note, While greasy Joan doth keel the pot. Shakespeare. 14 Answer to a Child's Question Do you ask what the birds say ? The sparrow, And singing, and loving, all come back together. 15 Ophelia's Song Coleridge. How should I your true love know From another one? By his cockle hat and staff And his sandal shoon. saw] sermon. crabs] crab-apples. cockle hat] hat with a cockle or scallop-shell stuck in it, as sign that the wearer had visited the saint's shrine in Spain. |