WINTER PROSPECTS IN THE COUNTRY. AN EPISTLE TO A FRIEND IN LONDON, 1756. John Scott Alexander Huber Editor Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford
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Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive
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Oxford This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. T116245 1137 K093079.004 Pearch, G. A collection of poems in four volumes. By several hands. Vol. IV. [The second edition]. London printed for G. Pearch 1770 pp. 124-126. 4v. ; 8⁰.

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WINTER PROSPECTS IN THE COUNTRY . AN EPISTLE TO A FRIEND IN LONDON , 1756. BY J. S. WHile Learning's pleasing cares my friend detain , By Thames's banks on London's smoaky plain ; Where spacious streets their peopled length extend , And pompous domes and lofty spires ascend : Far different views the lonely country yields , Deserted roads , and unfrequented fields ; Bleak scenes , where hoary Winter holds command , And from his throne of clouds o'erlooks the land ; He frowns — the power of Vegetation dies , Frosts bind the earth , and Tempests rend the skies ; Or driving Snows descend , or pouring Rains , Or chilling Vapours hover o'er the plains . Sometimes awhile the hoary Tyrant sleeps , Hid in his cave beneath the watery deeps ; The distant sun extends a chearing ray , Bright smile the skies and soft the breezes play : Then airy lawns the morning walk invite , And rural landscapes charm the roving sight , Mix'd with brown stubble , leafless woods are seen , And neat-plough'd furrows clad in scanty green ; While turbid waters edg'd with yellow reeds Wind thro' the russet herd-forsaken meads ; And groves that Winter's fiercest rage disdain In fair plantations deck the shelter'd plain : There painted hollies with red berries glow , And their broad leaves the shining laurels show , And pines and firs their varied verdure blend , And cedars spread , and cypresses ascend . Pleas'd with the scene , I range from field to field , Till loftier lands remoter prospects yield ; And there the curious optic tube apply Till a new world approaches on the eye ; Till where dark wood the hills slope surface shrouds ; Or the blue summit mingles with the clouds ; There fair inclosures lie of varied hue , And trees and houses rise distinct to view . But this too oft th' inclement clime denies , Involv'd in misty or in watery skies ; And yet ev'n then with books engag'd , I find A sweet employment for th' exploring mind ; There fair Description shews each absent scene , The corn-clad mountain and the daisied green ; There over distant lands my fancy roves , Thro' India's cany isles and palmy groves ; Where clear streams wander thro' luxuriant vales , Midst cloudless skies and ever-tepid gales , While Spring sits smiling in her brightest bloom , And calls around her every rich perfume .