The Rural Muse Poems Author:John Clare General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1835 Original Publisher: Whittaker Subjects: Literary Criticism / Poetry Poetry / General Poetry / American / General Poetry / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh Social Science / Sociology / Rural Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no i... more »llustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: AUTUMN. Svren of sullen moods and fading hues, Yet haply not incapable of joy, Sweet Autumn ! I thee hail With welcome all unfeigned; And oft as morning from her lattice peeps To beckon up the sun, I seek with thee To drink the dewy breath Of fields left fragrant then, In solitudes, where no frequented paths But what thy own foot makes betray thine home, Stealing obtrusive there To meditate thy end : By overshadowed ponds, in woody nooks, With ramping sallows lined, and crowding sedge, Which woo the winds to play, And with them dance for joy ; And meadow pools, torn wide by lawless floods, Where water-lilies spread their oily leaves, On which, as wont, the fly Oft battens in the sun; Where leans the mossy willow half way o'er, On which the shepherd crawls astride to throw His angle, clear of weeds That crowd the water's brim ; Or crispy hills, and hollows scant of sward, Where step by step the patient lonely boy, Hath cut rude flights of stairs To climb their steepy sides ; Then track along their feet, grown hoarse with noise, The crawling brook, that ekes its weary speed, And struggles through the weeds With faint and sullen brawl. -- These haunts I long have favoured, more as now With thee thus wandering, moralizing on ; Stealing glad thoughts from grief, And happy, though I sigh. Sweet Vision, with the wild dishevelled hair, And raiment shadowy of each wind's embrac...« less