mitchell-P044_A-5_2

May.

Welcome, welcome, Joyful May! Queen of months; Oh, [tune] my lay. Cheerful hours, and vernal sun, Nature aid, dispel her gloom; Winter’s cold, command depart, Give the cheer to every heart.

Cold was Aries’ month, and chill, Valleys, nor forsaken hill, Echo'd sweet with notes and songs, Rais’d by nature’s thousand tongues; But windy blasts, show'ry hail, Oft in roaring round prevail’d.

Taurus too, made April strange, Claudy, sickly, full of change, Irksome winds, unwholesome breath, Bainful mists, distroying health, Frequent rains, and damped air; Scarse a single day was fair.

But, what change is now perciev'd, When bright Twins, the sun's recievd, Bid the tepid air give way, Rarefy and cleanse the day? All is life, and joy, and ease, Every breeze sounds songs of peace.

Nature now, in vernal dress, Animates the cheerful breast; Now the swallow tunes her voice, Now the tuneful larks rejoice; All is music, loud and shrill, Through the vale, the wood, the hill.

Now let men in concert raise, One resounding song of praise; Take the van in nature's choir, Feel the warmth, the heav'nly fire; Loud proclaim in joyous lay, Welcome! welcome! joyful May.

Mitchell.

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