by John Clare (1793 - 1864)
To the Rural Muse
Language: English
Simple enchantress! wreath'd in summer blooms Of slender bent-stalks topt with feathery down, Heath's creeping vetch, and glaring yellow brooms, With ash-keys wavering on thy rushy crown; Simple enchantress! how I've woo'd thy smiles, How often sought thee far from flush'd renown; Sought thee unseen where fountain-waters fell; Touch'd thy wild reed unheard, in weary toils; And though my heavy hand thy song defiles, 'Tis hard to leave thee, and to bid farewel. Simple enchantress! ah, from all renown, Far off, my soul hath warm'd in bliss to see The varied figures on thy summer-gown, That nature's finger works so 'witchingly; The colour'd flower, the silken leaves that crown Green nestling bower-bush and high towering tree; Brooks of the sunny green and shady dell: Ah, sweet full many a time they've been to me; And though my weak song faulters, sung to thee, I cannot, wild enchantress, bid farewel. Still must I seek thee, though I wind the brook When morning sunbeams o'er the waters glide, And trace thy footsteps in the lonely nook As evening moists the daisy by thy side; Ah, though I woo thee on thy bed of thyme, - If courting thee be deem'd ambition's pride, It is so passing sweet with thee to dwell - If love for thee in clowns be call'd a crime, Forgive presumption, O thou queen of rhyme! I've lov'd thee long, I cannot bid farewel.
Authorship:
- by John Clare (1793 - 1864), "To the Rural Muse", appears in The Village Minstrel, and Other Poems, first published 1821 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Richard Roderick-Jones (b. 1947), "To the Rural Muse", 1967 [alto, flute, oboe, clarinet, violin, viola, and violoncello], from Carmina Laeta (1967) [text not verified]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-07-23
Line count: 30
Word count: 235