Poems (Campbell)/William and Susan
WILLIAM AND SUSAN.
How happy are the charming pair
That live in yon romantic glen!
For Susan is the loveliest fair,
And William is the best of men.
That live in yon romantic glen!
For Susan is the loveliest fair,
And William is the best of men.
When spring or summer decks the year,
When lambkins urge their joyful pranks,
And flow'rs their budding beauties rear,
On the smooth streamlet's grassy banks;
When lambkins urge their joyful pranks,
And flow'rs their budding beauties rear,
On the smooth streamlet's grassy banks;
From ev'ry shrub that scents the air,
He plucks a blossom wet with dew,
And with it forms a garland fair,
To grace the chesnut locks of Sue.
He plucks a blossom wet with dew,
And with it forms a garland fair,
To grace the chesnut locks of Sue.
Then on the turf supinely laid,
No ruffling care to vex his mind,
He sings his lovely cottage-maid,
For ever fair, for ever kind.
No ruffling care to vex his mind,
He sings his lovely cottage-maid,
For ever fair, for ever kind.
The song is simple as the swain;
He chaunts in wild untutor'd lays,
The pleasures of the rural plain,
And chaunts them all to Susan's praise.
He chaunts in wild untutor'd lays,
The pleasures of the rural plain,
And chaunts them all to Susan's praise.
"Oh! come, my love! the spring returns;
I hear her herald in the grove,
The shepherd's breast with rapture burns,
And all is harmony and love.
I hear her herald in the grove,
The shepherd's breast with rapture burns,
And all is harmony and love.
What countless beauties paint the scene,
The rural scene still form'd to please;
Where virtue, love, and friendship reign,
Where dwell contentment, health, and ease!
The rural scene still form'd to please;
Where virtue, love, and friendship reign,
Where dwell contentment, health, and ease!
We'll wander up yon woodland hill,
Where spring's sweet infant breezes blow;
And seated by some murm'ring rill,
Muse on the varied charms below.
Where spring's sweet infant breezes blow;
And seated by some murm'ring rill,
Muse on the varied charms below.
The stream that smoothly winds along,
On whose blue breast the zephyrs sleep;
The shepherd's pipe, the milk-maid's song,
The distant valley white with sheep!
On whose blue breast the zephyrs sleep;
The shepherd's pipe, the milk-maid's song,
The distant valley white with sheep!
The fairest flow'rs that Flora yields,
To deck thy wavy locks I'll bring;
For thee I'll rove the dewy fields,
And gather all the sweets of spring.
To deck thy wavy locks I'll bring;
For thee I'll rove the dewy fields,
And gather all the sweets of spring.
And there the violet shall try
To match thine eyes' celestial blue;
The rose-bud's op'ning blush shall vie
With thy fair cheek's soft vermeil-hue,
To match thine eyes' celestial blue;
The rose-bud's op'ning blush shall vie
With thy fair cheek's soft vermeil-hue,
The mountain-daisy there shall spread
Its bosom white as Alpine snow,
To match thy neck, my lovely maid,
But, ah! 'twill want that breathing glow.
Its bosom white as Alpine snow,
To match thy neck, my lovely maid,
But, ah! 'twill want that breathing glow.
And all their rival charms combin'd,
Their varied sweets and mingled grace,
Alike shall emulate thy mind,
E'en as they emulate thy face!"
Their varied sweets and mingled grace,
Alike shall emulate thy mind,
E'en as they emulate thy face!"
Thus William sang—the echoing hills
Reply the raptures of the swain,
And smoother flow the murm'ring rills,
While smiling Sue approves the strain.
Reply the raptures of the swain,
And smoother flow the murm'ring rills,
While smiling Sue approves the strain.
No jealous doubts disturb his heart,
Where easy truth delights to dwell;
For simple she, and void of art,
The modest maid he loves so well.
Where easy truth delights to dwell;
For simple she, and void of art,
The modest maid he loves so well.
Nor let the pride of pow'r and wealth
Despise their humble birth and fame,
For their's are competence and health;
And what are titles but a name?
Despise their humble birth and fame,
For their's are competence and health;
And what are titles but a name?
An empty name, as light as air,
Unless with worth and virtue join'd;—
Can titles break the bonds of care?
Can these enlarge the narrow mind?
Unless with worth and virtue join'd;—
Can titles break the bonds of care?
Can these enlarge the narrow mind?
But virtue, like the tow'ring oak,
Lifts her tall head, the forest's pride;
The raging storm, the whirlwind's shock,
Fall weak and harmless at her side.
Lifts her tall head, the forest's pride;
The raging storm, the whirlwind's shock,
Fall weak and harmless at her side.
Vice, like some frail and gaudy flow'r,
Spreads her broad bosom to the sun,
But ere the ev'ning's silent hour,
Is wither'd, perish'd, and undone.
Spreads her broad bosom to the sun,
But ere the ev'ning's silent hour,
Is wither'd, perish'd, and undone.