1 | THE HOLLOW winds begin to blow; | |
| 2 | The clouds look black, the glass is low, | |
| 3 | The soot falls down, the spaniels sleep, | |
| 4 | And spiders from their cobwebs peep. | |
| 5 | Last night the sun went pale to bed, | 5 |
| 6 | The moon in halos hid her head; | |
| 7 | The boding shepherd heaves a sigh, | |
| 8 | For see, a rainbow spans the sky! | |
| 9 | The walls are damp, the ditches smell, | |
| 10 | Closed is the pink-eyed pimpernel. | 10 |
| 11 | Hark how the chairs and tables crack! | |
| 12 | Old Betty’s nerves are on the rack; | |
| 13 | Loud quacks the duck, the peacocks cry, | |
| 14 | The distant hills are seeming nigh. | |
| 15 | How restless are the snorting swine! | 15 |
| 16 | The busy flies disturb the kine, | |
| 17 | Low o’er the grass the swallow wings, | |
| 18 | The cricket, too, how sharp he sings! | |
| 19 | Puss on the hearth, with velvet paws, | |
| 20 | Sits wiping o’er her whiskered jaws; | 20 |
| 21 | Through the clear streams the fishes rise, | |
| 22 | And nimbly catch the incautious flies. | |
| 23 | The glow-worms, numerous and light, | |
| 24 | Illumed the dewy dell last night; | |
| 25 | At dusk the squalid toad was seen, | 25 |
| 26 | Hopping and crawling o’er the green; | |
| 27 | The whirling dust the wind obeys, | |
| 28 | And in the rapid eddy plays; | |
| 29 | The frog has changed his yellow vest, | |
| 30 | And in a russet coat is dressed. | 30 |
| 31 | Though June, the air is cold and still, | |
| 32 | The mellow blackbird’s voice is shrill; | |
| 33 | My dog, so altered in his taste, | |
| 34 | Quits mutton-bones on grass to feast; | |
| 35 | And see yon rooks, how odd their flight! | 35 |
| 36 | They imitate the gliding kite, | |
| 37 | And seem precipitate to fall, | |
| 38 | As if they felt the piercing ball. | |
| 39 | ’T will surely rain; I see with sorrow, | |
| 40 | Our jaunt must be put off to-morrow. | 40 |
