Till choked and matted with the dreary shower,

The forest-walks, at every rising gale,

Roll wide the wither’d waste, and whistle bleak.

Fled is the blasted verdure of the fields,

And, shrunk into their beds, the flowery race

Their sunny robes resign. Even what remained

Of stronger fruits, falls from the naked tree,

And woods, fields, gardens, orchards, all around

The desolated prospect thrills the soul.

James Thomson, 1700–1748.