The frog half fearful jumps across the path, <br />And little mouse that leaves its hole at eve <br />Nimbles with timid dread beneath the swath; <br />My rustling steps awhile their joys deceive, <br />Till past, and then the cricket sings more strong, <br />And grasshoppers in merry moods still wear <br />The short night weary with their fretting song. <br />Up from behind the molehill jumps the hare, <br />Cheat of his chosen bed, and from the bank <br />The yellowhammer flutters in short fears <br />From off its nest hid in the grasses rank, <br />And drops again when no more noise it hears. <br />Thus nature's human link and endless thrall, <br />Proud man, still seems the enemy of all.<br /><br />John Clare<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/summer-evening/
