Summer

[...]

Wak'd by his warmer ray, the reptile young

Come wing'd abroad; by the light air upborn,

Lighter, and full of soul. From every chink,

And secret corner, where they slept away

The wintry storms; or rising from their tombs,

To higher life; by myriads, forth at once,

Swarming they pour; of all the vary'd hues

Their beauty-beaming parent can disclose.

Ten thousand forms! ten thousand different tribes!

People the blaze. To sunny waters some

By fatal instinct fly; where on the pool

They, sportive, wheel; or, sailing down the stream,

Are snatch'd immediate by the quick-eyed trout,

Or darting salmon. Thro' the green-wood glade

Some love to stray; there lodg'd, amus'd and fed,

In the fresh leaf. Luxurious, others make

The meads their choice, and visit every flower,

And every latent herb: for the sweet task,

To propagate their kinds, and where to wrap,

In what soft beds, their young yet undisclos'd,

Employs their tender care. Some to the house,

The fold, and dairy, hungry, bend their flight;

Sip round the pail, or taste the curdling cheese:

Oft, inadvertent, from the milky stream

They meet their fate; or, weltering in the bowl,

With powerless wings around them wrapt, expire.

[...]