The Tables turned; an Evening Scene, on the same subject
THE TABLES TURNED;
An EVENING SCENE, on the same Subject.
Up! up! my Friend, and clear your looks;
Why all this toil and trouble?
Up! up! my Friend, and quit your books,
Or surely you’ll grow double.
The sun, above the mountain’s head,5
A freshening lustre mellow
Through all the long green fields has spread,
His first sweet evening yellow.
Books! ’tis a dull and endless strife:
Come, hear the woodland Linnet,10
How sweet his music! on my life
There’s more of wisdom in it.
And hark! how blithe the Throstle sings!
And he is no mean preacher:
Come forth into the light of things, 15
Let Nature be your teacher.
She has a world of ready wealth,
Our minds and hearts to bless—
Spontaneous wisdom breathed by health,
Truth breathed by cheerfulness. 20
One impulse from a vernal wood
May teach you more of man,
Of moral evil and of good,
Than all the sages can.
Sweet is the lore which Nature brings; 25
Our meddling intellect
Misshapes the beauteous forms of things;
—We murder to dissect.
Enough of Science and of Art;
Close up these barren leaves; 30
Come forth, and bring with you a heart
That watches and receives.
