Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, BE STILL, O YE WINDS!, by EDWARD MOORE (1712-1757)


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

BE STILL, O YE WINDS!, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Be still, o ye winds! And attentive, ye swains!
Last Line: Gives joy to the night, and enlivens the day.
Subject(s): Happiness; Love; Love - Nature Of; Joy; Delight


COLIN.

BE still, O ye winds! and attentive, ye swains!
'Tis Phebe invites and replies to my strains;
The sun never rose on, search all the world through,
A shepherd so blest or a fair-one so true.
PHEB. Glide softly, ye streams! O ye nymphs, round me throng!
'Tis Colin commands and attends to my song;
Search all the world over, you never can find
A maiden so blest or a shepherd so kind.
BOTH. 'Tis love, like the sun, that gives light to the year,
The sweetest of blessings that life can endear;
Our pleasures it brightens, drives sorrow away,
Gives joy to the night, and enlivens the day.
COL. With Phebe beside me, the seasons how gay!
Then Winter's bleak months seem as pleasant as May;
The Summer's gay verdure springs still as she treads,
And linnets and nightingales sing through the meads.
PHEB. When Colin is absent 'tis Winter all round,
How faint is the sunshine, how barren the ground!
Instead of the linnet and nightingale's song,
I hear the hoarse raven croak all the day long.
BOTH. 'Tis love, like the sun, &c.
COL. O'er hill, dale, and valley, my Phebe and I
Together will wander, and Love shall be by;
Her Colin shall guard her safe all the long day,
And Phebe at night all his pains shall repay.
PHEB. By moonlight when shadows glide over the plain,
His kisses shall cheer me, his arm shall sustain;
The dark haunted grove I can trace without fear,
Or sleep in a church-yard, if Colin is near.
BOTH. 'Tis love, like the sun, &c.
COL. Ye shepherds, that wanton it over the plain,
How fleeting your transports, how lasting your pain!
Inconstancy shun, and reward the kind she,
And learn to be happy of Phebe and me.
PHEB. Yenymphs! who the pleasures of love never tried,
Attend to my strains, and take me for your guide;
Your hearts keep from pride and inconstancy free,
And learn to be happy of Colin and me.
BOTH. 'Tis love, like the sun, that gives light to the year,
The sweetest of blessings that life can endear:
Our pleasures it brightens, drives sorrow away,
Gives joy to the night, and enlivens the day.





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