The Pleasures of Spring

Now reigns the lovely spring in all her pride,
And spreads her verdant robe, adorn'd,
Around the fields and meads; they cheerful smile
In her gay livery drest; the whisp'ring winds
Breathe soft, and on their balmy wings convey
Reviving sweets; the feather'd choir awake
Their artless songs, and all th' enchanting scene
Is harmony and beauty: nature's charms
Subdue the heart, and ev'ry sense is fill'd!

But while the eye roves o'er the blooming mead
With careless pleasure, or the list'ning ear
Attends the soothing musick of the grove;
Think, whither does the soft enchantment tend?
Are nature's various beauties lent for this,
Only to please the sense? For nobler ends
The God of nature gave them. Nature spreads
An open volume, where in ev'ry page
We read the wonders of almighty pow'r!
Infinite wisdom, and unbounded love.
Here sweet instruction, entertaining truths
Reward the searching mind, and onward lead
Enquiring thought; new beauties still unfold
And op'ning wonders rise upon the view.
The mind, rejoicing, comments as she reads;
While through th' inspiring page, conviction glows,
And warms to praise her animated pow'rs.

I low great, how glorious, is the sov'reign hand,
Which forms so beauteous ev'ry plant and flow'r,
And on the vegetable world inscribes,
In lively characters, his wond'rous name?
While active life speaks in a thousand forms,
Pow'r, wisdom, and beneficence divine,
The parts of nature in their just proportion,
Uniting, harmonizing, blend to form
One perfect system; truth and beauty smile,
Inviting contemplation upward still,
From step to step, till at their glorious source
Arriv'd, the soul in low prostration bends,
Adoring, with submissive, silent awe,
The great Unsearchable, the wond'rous name,
Which creature praise can never, never reach!