On a gloomy evening the speaker roams under Oxey’s hazel trees, soothed by the quiet scene: timid hares darting out, dewy flowers. His soul feels as calm as a summer sea when waves forget to roll. The mood is gentle, contented — until Nelly appears, skipping lightly over the stile with her milk-pail. She casts a single bright, offhand look his way, and everything changes. That glance is like a hawk suddenly springing from a thicket: it pounces and snatches his peace away in an instant. The poem captures the shock of unexpected attraction, how a passing gaze can shatter a serene state of mind. The effect is a sharp, almost alarming contrast — twilight tranquility flipped into the flutter of new desire, with the natural world mirroring both calm and sudden force.
Song — Summary
One gloomy eve I roamed about Neath Oxey's hazel bowers, While timid hares were darting out, To crop the dewy flowers; And soothing was the scene to me, Right pleased was my soul, My breast was calm as summer's sea When waves forget to roll.
But short was even's placid smile, My startled soul to charm, When Nelly lightly skipt the stile, With milk-pail on her arm: One careless look on me she flung, As bright as parting day; And like a hawk from covert sprung, It pounced my peace away.