Winter (excerpt)

With, it seems, the return of winter by the end of the week after 2 weeks of warmer weather, a part of Clare's 'Winter'. Hope it's not that cold here this week:

Oft o’er one flys the chirping lark
With rhyme hung round his chilly breast
Complaining of some dogs rude bark
That scared him from his chilly rest
& oft from snowbanks ridgy edge
The hare steps hirpling o’er the plain
Till found a bush or bunch of sedge
Then drops its ears & squats again
& feebly whines the puddocks wail
Slow circling naked woods around
& wild geese ranks that swifter sail
Oft start one with a hoarser sound
While towering at the farthest height
The heron brawls its lonely cry
Who intercepts the dazzled light
& looks a cloud speck in the sky