William Wordsworth

William Wordsworth

Apr. 7, 1770 - Apr. 23, 1850

 

Thought On The Seasons

by William Wordsworth

Flattered with promise of escape
From every hurtful blast,
Spring takes, O sprightly May! thy shape,
Her loveliest and her last.

Less fair is summer riding high
In fierce solstitial power,
Less fair than when a lenient sky
Brings on her parting hour.

When earth repays with golden sheaves
The labors of the plough,
And ripening fruits and forest leaves
All brighten on the bough;

What pensive beauty autumn shows,
Before she hears the sound
Of winter rushing in, to close
The emblematic round!

Such be our Spring, our Summer such;
So may our Autumn blend
With hoary Winter, and Life touch,
Through heaven-born hope, her end!

Source:

The Complete Poetical Works of William Wordsworth
Copyright 1888
Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., New York