The West Wind, James Staunton Babcock

The West Wind by James Staunton Babcock is a poem frequently cited for its first use of the phrase "sweet summer child":

Thou comest, summer breeze,
With life and music on the air;
I trace thee thro' those tossing trees,
But where's thy dwelling—where?

Yon green maize slowly swings
To thee, and wide o'ershadowing come
The clouds, on gray and silver wings, But neither is thy home.

Thou walk'st the dreaming lake,
And its dappled skies in bright rings flee, Like tinkling coins the shore-waves break, But they're no lodge for thee.

Go, visit the sick man pale,
And fan his fevered brain asleep,
Then haste and lift yon flagging sail
Along the weltering deep.

Go, kiss that flower-girl fair,
And blow her ringlets lovingly,
And suck her posies fresh, and bear
A sweeter balm to me.

Go to the window-sill
And softly touch the Æolian lyre,
Dwell o'er its plaintive chords, and thrill My soul's with subtle fire.

Then wander where it please,
Thro' field, or dale or shady west;
The brooks and birds and humming bees
Will lull me soon to rest.

Blow thou at dawning light,
Blue noon, or ruddy evening by,
Or rove the starry woods at night—
Thou goest a mystery.

Yet gives yon glorious fire,
Mild wind, thy gentle being birth,
On wings of love that never tire,
Heaven's messenger to earth.

Thy home is all around,
Sweet summer child of light and air,
Like God's own presence, felt, ne'er found,
A Spirit everywhere!