UP! up, my friend! and quit your books, Or surely you'll grow double; Up! up, my friend! and clear your looks! Why all this toil and trouble? The sun, above the mountain's head, A freshening lustre mellow Through all the long green fields has spread, His first sweet evening yellow. Books! 't is a dull and endless strife; Come, hear the woodland linnet -- How sweet his music! on my life, There's more of wisdom in it! And hark! how blithe the throstle sings! He, too, is no mean preacher; Come forth into the light of things -- Let Nature be your teacher. She has a world of ready wealth, Our minds and hearts to bless, -- Spontaneous wisdom breathed by health, Truth breathed by cheerfulness. One impulse from a vernal wood May teach you more of man, Of moral evil and of good, Than all the sages can. Sweet is the lore which nature brings; Our meddling intellect Misshapes the beauteous forms of things -- We murder to dissect. Enough of science and of art; Close up those barren leaves; Come forth, and bring with you a heart That watches and receives. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...GRAMERCY PARK by SARA TEASDALE TWO SONGS OF A FOOL: 1 by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS NOTHING BUT LEAVES by LUCY EVELINA AKERMAN THE LITTLE BEACH BIRD by RICHARD HENRY DANA (1787-1879) THE DOVE by ABUL HASAN OF SEVILLE URANIA; THE WOMAN IN THE MOON: DEDICATION TO LADY PENELOPE DYNHAM by WILLIAM BASSE |