The Woods The woods are full of singing And the wind upon the lawn; There is joy in the air, and round me, I hear the sudden thought drawn. \nAh, life, and thought, and measure In the shade of yonder trees, With the coolness of their whispers And the sun amid the leaves. \nSuch a joy that every flower Springs to serve my urgent fancies; And the warbling from the boughs— Yet it hardly doth seduce me, But as an echo in my heart glances. \nIs not Nature true to those Who in rapture heed her axiom? And the stumbling foot here knows, Soft is every place this summer comes.

• George Meredith