Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, DAY: NOON, by JOHN CUNNINGHAM


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

DAY: NOON, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Fervid on the glitt'ring flood
Last Line: Brighten'd by the beams of noon.
Subject(s): Landscape; Nature; Noon


FERVID on the glitt'ring flood
Now the noon-tide radiance glows:
Drooping o'er its infant bud,
Not a dew-drop's left the rose.

By the brook the shepherd dines,
From the fierce meridian heat
Shelter'd by the branching pines
Pendant o'er his grassy seat.

Now the flock forsakes the glade,
Where uncheck'd the sun-beams fall,
Sure to find a pleasing shade
By the ivy'd abbey wall.

Echo, in her airy round,
O'er the river, rock, and hill,
Cannot catch a single sound,
Save the clack of yonder mill.

Cattle court the zephyrs bland,
Where the streamlet wanders cool,
Or with languid silence stand
Midway in the marshy pool.

But from mountain, dell or stream,
Not a flutt'ring zephyr springs;
Fearful lest the noon-tide beam
Scorch its soft, its silken wings.

Not a leaf has leave to stir,
Nature's lull'd -- serene and still!
Quiet e'en the shepherd's cur,
Sleeping on the heath-clad hill.

Languid is the landscape round,
'Till the fresh descending show'r,
Grateful to the thirsty ground
Raises every fainting flower.

Now the hill -- the hedge -- is green,
Now the warbler's throat's in tune!
Blithesome is the verdant scene,
Brighten'd by the beams of noon.





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