802. the bending Mountains of the Moon. A range of mountains in Africa that surround almost all Monomotapa.—T.

893. Orca's or Betubium's highest peak. Orca is for Orkney; and Betubium is Duncansbay Head, the Berubium of Ptolemy. 929. John, Duke of Argyll and Greenwich. He was born in 1678, served with distinction under Marlborough in Flanders, and is commonly known in Scotland as 'The Good Duke of Argyll'. It was of him that Pope wrote

'Argyll, the state's whole thunder born to wield

And shake alike the senate and the field!'

He died in 1743.

944. Duncan Forbes, of Culloden, Lord President of the Court of Session, in Scotland. Born 1685; Lord Advocate 1725;

Lord President 1737. Died 1747.

1004-29. Compare Tennyson's unrhymed lyric, Tears, idle tears', in The Princess.

1050. The Temple of Virtue in Stowe Gardens.-T.

Stowe was the seat of Lord Cobham (1. 1072), cousin to Lyttelton It was at Lyttelton's seat, Hagley Park, that Thomson first met Pitt (the elder-but then only commencing his political career).

WINTER

[Originally (in 1726) dedicated by letter 'To the Right Honourable Sir Spencer Compton'; in 1730 simply inscribed 'to the Right Honourable the Lord Wilmington'. Compton was created Baron Wilmington in January, 1728,-Earl in May, 1730.]

THE ARGUMENT

THE subject proposed. Address to the Earl of Wilmington. First approach of Winter. According to the natural course of the season, various storms described. Rain. Wind. Snow. The driving of the snows: a man perishing among them; whence reflections on the wants and miseries of human life. The wolves descending from the Alps and Apennines. A winter evening described as spent by philosophers; by the country people; in the city. Frost. A view of Winter within the polar circle. A thaw. The whole concluding with moral reflections on a

future state.*

6

*The above is, substantially, the Argument of the poem in the first collected edition of The Seasons (1730). The words in italics were added in 1744. In the Argument for 1730 appears the note A short digression into Russia', withdrawn in 1744; and the passage on the wolves is noted as ' The wolves in Italy'. Other differences in the Argument of 1730 are merely verbal— 'Lord Wilmington' for the Earl of Wilmington', 'order' for course', 'its effects' for ' a view of Winter', and ' philosophical' for 'moral',

WINTER

[First published in March, 1726 (405 11.); second ed. also in 1726 (463 11.); ed. of 1730-not the Quarto-the first collected ed. of The Seasons (787 11.); final ed. in Author's lifetime, in 1746 (1,069 11.).]

SEE, Winter comes to rule the varied year,

Sullen and sad, with all his rising train

Vapours, and clouds, and storms. Be these my theme;
These, that exalt the soul to solemn thought
And heavenly musing. Welcome, kindred glooms!
Cogenial horrors, hail! With frequent foot,
Pleased have I, in my cheerful morn of life,
When nursed by careless solitude I lived
And sung of Nature with unceasing joy,
Pleased have I wandered through your rough domain;
Trod the pure virgin-snows, myself as pure;
Heard the winds roar, and the big torrent burst;
Or seen the deep-fermenting tempest brewed
In the grim evening-sky. Thus passed the time,
Till through the lucid chambers of the south
Looked out the joyous Spring-looked out and smiled.

To thee, the patron of this first essay,
The Muse, O Wilmington! renews her song.
Since has she rounded the revolving year:
Skimm'd the gay Spring; on eagle-pinions borne,
Attempted through the Summer-blaze to rise;
Then swept o'er Autumn with the shadowy gale.
And now among the Wintry clouds again,
Rolled in the doubling storm, she tries to soar,

11

21

6 Cogenial] Wished, wintry first ed. (1726); cogenial from 1730. 10 domains first ed. (1726); domain from 1730. 14 grim] red first ed. (1726); grim 1744. 15 lucid] opening first ed. (1726); lucid 1730. 17 this] her 1730-44. 17-40 This passage was introduced in 1730 on the publication of the first collected ed. of The Seasons.

To swell her note with all the rushing winds,
To suit her sounding cadence to the floods;
As is her theme, her numbers wildly great.
Thrice happy, could she fill thy judging ear
With bold description and with manly thought!
Nor art thou skilled in awful schemes alone,
And how to make a mighty people thrive;
But equal goodness, sound integrity,
A firm, unshaken, uncorrupted soul
Amid a sliding age, and burning strong,
Not vainly blazing, for thy country's weal,
A steady spirit, regularly free—

These, each exalting each, the statesman light
Into the patriot; these, the public hope
And eye to thee converting, bid the Muse
Record what envy dares not flattery call.

Now, when the cheerless empire of the sky

To Capricorn the Centaur-Archer yields,
And fierce Aquarius stains the inverted year-
Hung o'er the farthest verge of heaven, the sun
Scarce spreads o'er ether the dejected day.
Faint are his gleams, and ineffectual shoot
His struggling rays in horizontal lines

Through the thick air; as clothed in cloudy storm, 30 For this line the original (1730-38) gives

For thee the Graces smoothe, thy softer thoughts

The Muses tune; nor art thou skilled alone

38 these] and 1730-38.

30

40

In awful schemes, the management of States &c.
41-4 Edd. 1730 to 1738 read-
When Scorpio gives to Capricorn the sway,
And fierce Aquarius fouls the inverted year,
Retiring to the verge of heaven the sun &c.

41-71 For these lines there is in the first text of Winter a long passage of nearly 100 11. that were withdrawn in 1730 and utilized elsewhere in the collected Seasons. Thomson's use of them is noted as it occurs. See the first Winter, p. 228.

48 clothed in cloudy storm] at dull distance seen 1730-38

Weak, wan, and broad, he skirts the southern sky;

And, soon descending, to the long dark night,
Wide-shading all, the prostrate world resigns.
Nor is the night unwished; while vital heat,
Light, life, and joy the dubious day forsake.
Meantime, in sable cincture, shadows vast,
Deep-tinged and damp, and congregated clouds,
And all the vapoury turbulence of heaven
Involve the face of things. Thus Winter falls,
A heavy gloom oppressive o'er the world,
Through Nature shedding influence malign,
And rouses up the seeds of dark disease.
The soul of man dies in him, loathing life,
And black with more than melancholy views.
The cattle droop; and o'er the furrowed land,
Fresh from the plough, the dun discoloured flocks,
Untended spreading, crop the wholesome root.
Along the woods, along the moorish fens,
Sighs the sad genius of the coming storm;
And up among the loose disjointed cliffs

50

60

And fractured mountains wild, the brawling brook And cave, presageful, send a hollow moan, Resounding long in listening fancy's ear.

70

Then comes the father of the tempest forth, Wrapt in black glooms. First, joyless rains obscure Drive through the mingling skies with vapour foul, Dash on the mountain's brow, and shake the woods

62, 63 And black with horrid views. The cattle droop The conscious head, and o'er &c. 1730-38.

72 So from 1730;

64 Fresh] Red 1730-38. For see where Winter comes himself confest first ed. (1726); Winter! who rides along the darkened air second ed. (1726).

73 Striding the gloomy blast. First rains obscure 1726-38. 74 vapour foul] tempest foul 1726; vapour vile 1730-38 Dash] Beat 1726; dash from 1730.

75