Nature

Summer Winds

by John Clare 1793–1864

From Poems Chiefly from Manuscript (1920, ed. Blunden & Porter)

Nature

The wind waves oer the meadows green
And shakes my own wild flowers
And shifts about the moving scene
Like the life of summer hours;
The little bents with reedy head,
The scarce seen shapes of flowers,
All kink about like skeins of thread
In these wind-shaken hours.

All stir and strife and life and bustle
In everything around one sees;
The rushes whistle, sedges rustle,
The grass is buzzing round like bees;
The butterflies are tossed about
Like skiffs upon a stormy sea;
The bees are lost amid the rout
And drop in their perplexity.

Wilt thou be mine, thou bonny lass?
Thy drapery floats so gracefully;
We'll walk along the meadow grass,
We'll stand beneath the willow tree.
We'll mark the little reeling bee
Along the grassy ocean rove,
Tossed like a little boat at sea,
And interchange our vows of love.

MLA

Clare, John. “Summer Winds.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/clare/120/.

Chicago

Clare, John. “Summer Winds.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/clare/120/.

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