A Pastoral Song

Come, Anna! come, the morning dawns, Faint streaks of radiance tinge the skies; Come, let us seek the dewy lawns, And watch the early lark arise; While nature, clad in vesture gay, Hails the loved return of day. Our flocks, that nip the scanty blade Upon the moor, shall seek the vale; And then, secure beneath the shade, We'll listen to the throstle's tale; And watch the silver clouds above, As o'er the azure vault they rove. Come, Anna! come, and bring thy lute, That with its tones, so softly sweet, In cadence with my mellow flute, We may beguile the noontide heat; While near the mellow bee shall join, To raise a harmony divine. And then at eve, when silence reigns, Except when heard the beetle's hum, We'll leave the sober tinted plains, To these sweet heights again we'll come; And thou to thy soft lute shalt play A solemn vesper to departing day.