Poetical Works of Johnson, Parnell, Gray and Smollett

Midsummer

1 O Phoebus! down the western sky,
      Far hence diffuse thy burning ray;
    Thy light to distant worlds supply,
      And wake them to the cares of day.

2 Come, gentle Eve! the friend of Care,
      Come, Cynthia, lovely queen of night!
    Refresh me with a cooling breeze,
      And cheer me with a lambent light.

3 Lay me where, o’er the verdant ground,
      Her living carpet Nature spreads;
    Where the green bower, with roses crown’d,
      In showers its fragrant foliage sheds.

4 Improve the peaceful hour with wine;
      Let music die along the grove;
    Around the bowl let myrtles twine,
      And every strain be tuned to love.

5 Come, Stella, queen of all my heart!
      Come, born to fill its vast desires!
    Thy looks perpetual joys impart,
      Thy voice perpetual love inspires.

6 While, all my wish and thine complete,
      By turns we languish and we burn,
    Let sighing gales our sighs repeat,
      Our murmurs, murmuring brooks return.
  7 Let me, when Nature calls to rest,
      And blushing skies the morn foretell,
    Sink on the down of Stella’s breast,
      And bid the waking world farewell.