129
COOL REFLECTIONS
DURING A
MIDSUMMER WALK.
O spare me. .spare me, Phœbus! if indeed
Thou hast not let another Phaeton
Drive earthward thy fierce steeds and fiery car;
Mercy! I melt! I melt! no tree, no bush,
No shelter not a breath of stirring air
East, West, or North, or South! dear God of day,
Put on thy night-cap! crop thy locks of light,
And be in the fashion! turn thy back upon us,
And let thy beams flow upward! make it night
Instead of noon! one little miracle,
In pity, gentle Phœbus!
What a joy,
Oh what a joy to be a Seal and flounder
On an ice-island! or to have a den
With the white bear, cavern'd in polar snow!
It were a comfort to shake hands with Death, . .
He has a rare cold hand! to wrap one's self
Thou hast not let another Phaeton
Drive earthward thy fierce steeds and fiery car;
Mercy! I melt! I melt! no tree, no bush,
No shelter not a breath of stirring air
East, West, or North, or South! dear God of day,
Put on thy night-cap! crop thy locks of light,
And be in the fashion! turn thy back upon us,
And let thy beams flow upward! make it night
Instead of noon! one little miracle,
In pity, gentle Phœbus!
What a joy,
Oh what a joy to be a Seal and flounder
On an ice-island! or to have a den
With the white bear, cavern'd in polar snow!
It were a comfort to shake hands with Death, . .
He has a rare cold hand! to wrap one's self
