WINTER.
SEE, Winter comes, to rule the varied year,
Sullen, and sad, with all his rising train;
Vapours, and Clouds, and Storms. Be these my theme,
These! that exalt the soul to solemn thought,
And heavenly musing. Welcome, kindred glooms!5
Cogenial horrors, hail! with frequent foot,
Pleas'd have I, in my chearful morn of life,
When nurs'd by careless solitude I liv'd.
And sung of Nature with unceasing joy,
Pleas'd have I wander'd thro' your rough domain;10
Trod the pure virgin-snows, myself as pure;
Heard the winds roar, and the big torrent burst;
Or seen the deep fermenting tempest brew'd,
In the grim evening-sky. Thus pass'd the time,
Till thro' the lucid chambers of the south 15
Look'd out the joyous Spring, look'd out, and smil'd.
To thee, the patron of her first essay,
The Muse, O Wilmington! renews her song.
Since has she rounded the revolving year:
Skim'd the gay Spring; on eagle-pinions borne,20
Attempted thro' the summer-blaze to rise;
Then swept o'er Autumn with the shadowy gale;
