Poems of Letitia Elizabeth Landon (L. E. L.) in The Amulet, 1836/May Morning
MAY MORNING
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MAY MORNING.
BY L. E. L.
Up with the morning, and up with the sun,
Night, with its dreams and its shadows, is done;
The lilac's small stars in their thousands arise,
While the garden is filled with their languishing sighs,
I must away with the earliest hours,
To gather the may-dew that lies in the flowers.
The yellow laburnum, the spendthrift of spring,
How lavish the wealth which its bright branches fling,
Is rich as the bough which the sybil of yore
To chase the dark spirits of Acheron bore.
Ah yet, at the sight of its gladness, depart
The shadows that gather in gloom o'er the heart.
The violets open their eyes in the grass,
Each one has a dew-drop to serve as a glass;
Last night in their shelter the fairy queen slept;
And to thank the sweet watch o'er her sleep which they kept,
The look which she gave them at parting left there
The blue of her eyes, and the scent of her hair.
With his wings filled with music, the bee is abroad,
He seeks the wild thyme-beds of which he is lord.
The lark starts from slumber, and up-soaring flings
The night-tears the clover had shed on his wings.
The chirp of the grasshopper gladdens the field,
For all things their mirth or their melody yield.
The glory of spring, and the glory of morn,
O'er all the wide world in their beauty are borne;
For the winter is gone to the snows of the north,
And the promise of summer in green leaves looks forth.
The red rose has summoned her sisters from rest,
And earth with the sight of the lovely is blest.
I too will go forth, I too will renew
My bloom and my spirits in sunshine and dew.
I hear the birds singing, and feel that their song
Bears my own heart that shareth their gladness along.
Ah, let me away with the earliest hours,
To gather the may-dew that lies in the flowers.