The Halcyon



Why o'er the verdant banks of Ouse
Does yonder Halcyon speed so fast?
'Tis all because she would not lose
Her favourite calm, that will not last.

The sun with azure paints the skies,
The stream reflects each flowery spray,
And, frugal of her time, she flies
To take her fill of love and play!

See her, when rugged Boreas blows,
Warm in some rocky cell remain;
To seek for pleasure, well she knows,
Would only then enhance the pain.

'Descend,' she cries, 'thou hated shower,
Deform my limpid waves to-day,
For I have chose a fairer hour
To take my fill of love and play!'

You, too, my Silvia, sure will own
Life's azure seasons swiftly roll,
And when our youth or health is flown,
To think of love, but shocks the soul.

Could Damon but deserve thy charms,
As thou art Damon's only theme;
He'd fly as quick to Celia's arms
As yonder Halcyon stems the stream.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 14, 2023

49 sec read
82

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABAB ACAC ADAD ECEC FGFG AHAH
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 841
Words 163
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

William Shenstone

 · 1714 · Halesowen

William Shenstone was an English poet and one of the earliest practitioners of landscape gardening through the development of his estate, The Leasowes. more…

All William Shenstone poems | William Shenstone Books

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