On a warm summer day, young Nelly lies asleep on a bank of flowers, dressed lightly for the heat. Willie, who has long sought her favor, comes through the wood and stops, captivated. He gazes at her closed eyes, her softly breathing lips, and the way her robes move in the breeze, and his pulse races with longing and fear. The poem tracks his inner conflict in repeated lines—he gazes, he wishes, he fears, he blushes—until he steals an ardent, faltering kiss. Nelly wakes in a start, flying away like a startled partridge, but Willie follows and overtakes her. He pleads and vows, and she, good-natured and forgiving, relents. The whole scene feels drenched in sunlight and the heady rush of first attraction, where a stolen kiss is both a transgression and a prelude to tender reconciliation. The mood is one of tender, playful desire, steeped in summer warmth and the breathless, almost innocent boldness of young love.
264. Song—On a Bank of Flowers — Summary
ON a bank of flowers, in a summer day, For summer lightly drest, The youthful, blooming Nelly lay, With love and sleep opprest; When Willie, wand’ring thro’ the wood, Who for her favour oft had sued; He gaz’d, he wish’d He fear’d, he blush’d, And trembled where he stood.
Her closèd eyes, like weapons sheath’d, Were seal’d in soft repose; Her lip, still as she fragrant breath’d, It richer dyed the rose; The springing lilies, sweetly prest, Wild-wanton kissed her rival breast; He gaz’d, he wish’d, He mear’d, he blush’d, His bosom ill at rest.
Her robes, light-waving in the breeze, Her tender limbs embrace; Her lovely form, her native ease, All harmony and grace; Tumultuous tides his pulses roll, A faltering, ardent kiss he stole; He gaz’d, he wish’d, He fear’d, he blush’d, And sigh’d his very soul.
As flies the partridge from the brake, On fear-inspired wings, So Nelly, starting, half-awake, Away affrighted springs; But Willie follow’d-as he should, He overtook her in the wood; He vow’d, he pray’d, He found the maid Forgiving all, and good.