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Thomas Gray - Ode On The Pleasure Arising From Vicissitude
Work rating: Medium

Now the golden Morn aloft
     Waves her dew-bespangled wing,
     With vermeil cheek, and whisper soft
     She woos the tardy Spring:
     Till April starts, and calls around
     The sleeping fragrance from the ground;
     And lightly o`er the living scene
     Scatters his freshest, tenderest green.

     New-born flocks, in rustic dance,
   Frisking ply their feeble feet;
   Forgetful of their wintry trance
   The birds his presence greet:
   But chief, the skylark warbles high
   His trembling thrilling ecstasy;
   And, lessening from the dazzled sight,
   Melts into air and liquid light.

   Rise, my soul! on wings of fire,
   Rise the rapt`rous choir among;
   Hark! `tis Nature strikes the lyre,
   And leads the general song:

… 

   Yesterday the sullen year
   Saw the snowy whirlwind fly;
   Mute was the music of the air,
   The herd stood drooping by:
   Their raptures now that wildly flow,
   No yesterday, nor morrow know;
   `Tis man alone that joy descries
   With forward, and reverted eyes.

   Smiles on past Misfortune`s brow
   Soft Reflection`s hand can trace;
   And o`er the cheek of Sorrow throw
   A melancholy grace;
   While Hope prolongs our happier hour
   Or deepest shades, that dimly lower
   And blacken round our weary way,
   Gilds with a gleam of distant day.

   Still, where rosy Pleasure leads,
   See a kindred Grief pursue;
   Behind the steps that Misery treads,
   Approaching Comfort view:
   The hues of bliss more brightly glow,
   Chastis`d by sabler tints of woe;
   And blended form, with artful strife,
   The strength and harmony of life.

   See the wretch, that long has tost
   On the thorny bed of pain,
   At length repair his vigour lost,
   And breathe, and walk again:
   The meanest flow`ret of the vale,
   The simplest note that swells the gale,
   The common sun, the air, the skies,
   To him are opening Paradise.

   Humble Quiet builds her cell,
   Near the source whence Pleasure flows;
   She eyes the clear crystalline well,
   And tastes it as it goes.
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