November: An ode (I-IV) / John Seally

from November: An ode

I

Now Sol but faintly lends his radiant beams,
Creation's better half in silence laid;
Old Time with solemn pace
Begins his wint'ry reign.


II

See! sable clouds in wild disorder rise,
Born on the wings of raging northern blasts,
That flood the trembling plain
And leafless trees lay waste:
Down the rough precipice in thunder roars—
A grandeur that exalts th' ennobled mind!


III

A silver frost succeeds
Wildly magnificent!
The distant hills rear up their hoary head,
While pendent icicles like diamonds shine:
Thus clad in rich disguise,
Each object nature brightens.


IV

In frosted marshes see the nodding reed,
Seem polish'd lances in a hostile field:
The myriad atoms fly,
If but a gust of wind;
While moping birds the rattling branches shun,
And in a spangled show'r the prospect ends.

~~
John Seally (1741-1795)
from London Magazine, 1770

[Poem is in the public domain worldwide]

John Seally biography
Read the complete ode here