s: Whom having wounded, back againe they go,


s: Carrying compassion to their lovely foe;


s: Who, seeing her faire eyes so sharp effect,


s: Cures all their sorrowes with one sweete aspect.


s: In which how many wonders doe they reede


s: To their conceipt, that others never see!


s: Now of her smiles, with which their soules they feede,


s: Like gods with nectar in their bankets free;


s: Now of her lookes, which like to cordials bee;


s: But when her words embássade* forth she sends,


s: Lord, how sweete musicke that unto them lends!


s: Sometimes within her eye-lids they unfold


s: Ten thousand sweet belgards*, which to their sight


s: Doe seeme like twinckling starres in frostie night;


s: So many millions of chaste pleasures play.


s: All those, O Cytherea! and thousands more,


s: Thy handmaides be, which do on thee attend,


s: To decke thy beautie with their dainties store,


s: That may it more to mortall eyes commend,


s: And make it more admyr'd of foe and frend;


s: Then Iö, tryumph! O great Beauties Queene,


s: That all this world, the which thy vassels beene,


s: Singing this hymne in honour of thy name,


s: Compyld by me, which thy poor liegeman am!


s: In lieu whereof graunt, O great soveraine!


s: My trembling hart in her eternall chaine,


s: One drop of grace at length will to me give,


s: That I her bounden thrall by her may live,


s: And this same life, which first fro me she reaved,


s: And you, faire Venus dearling, my dear dread!


s: Fresh flowre of grace, great goddesse of my life,


s: When your faire eyes these fearfull lines shall read,


s: Deigne to let fall one drop of dew reliefe,


s: That may recure my harts long pyning griefe,


s: And shew what wondrous powre your beauty hath,


s: That can restore a damned wight from death.


s: From this base world unto thy heavens hight,


s: Which there thou workest by thy soveraine might,


s: Farre above feeble reach of earthly sight,


s: That I thereof an heavenly hymne may sing


s: Unto the God of Love, high heavens king.


s: Many lewd layes (ah! woe is me the more!)


s: In praise of that mad fit which fooles call Love,


s: I have in th'heat of youth made heretofore,


s: That in light wits did loose affection move;


s: The heavenly prayses of true Love to sing.


s: And ye that wont with greedy vaine desire


s: To reade my fault, and, wondring at my flame,


s: To warme your selves at my wide sparckling fire,


s: Sith now that heat is quenched, quench my blame,


s: Beginnes his owne, and my old fault renewes.


s: Are now containd, found any being-place,


s: Ere flitting Time could wag* his eyas** wings


s: About that mightie bound which doth embrace


s: The rolling spheres, and parts their houres by space,


s: That high eternall Powre, which now doth move


s: In all these things, mov'd in it selfe by love.


s: It lovd it selfe, because it selfe was faire;


s: (For fair is lov'd;) and of it self begot


s: Like to it selfe his eldest Sonne and Heire,


s: Eternall, pure, and voide of sinfull blot,


s: The firstling of his ioy, in whom no iot


s: Of loves dislike or pride was to be found,


s: Whom he therefore with equall honour crownd.


s: With him he raignd, before all time prescribed,


s: Together with that Third from them derived,


s: Most wise, most holy, most almightie Spright!


s: Whose kingdomes throne no thoughts of earthly wight


s: Can comprehend, much lesse my trembling verse


s: With equall words can hope it to reherse.


s: Yet, O most blessed Spirit! pure lampe of light,


s: Eternall spring of grace and wisedom trew,


s: Vouchsafe to shed into my barren spright


s: That may my rymes with sweet infuse* embrew,


s: And give me words equall unto my thought,


s: To tell the marveiles by thy mercie wrought.


s: Yet being pregnant still with powrefull grace,


s: And full of fruitfull Love, that loves to get


s: Things like himselfe and to enlarge his race,


s: His second brood, though not of powre so great,


s: All glistring glorious in their Makers light.


s: (Not this round heaven which we from hence behold,


s: Adornd with thousand lamps of burning light,


s: And with ten thousand gemmes of shyning gold)


s: That they might serve him in eternall blis,


s: There they in their trinall triplicities


s: Either with nimble wings to cut the skies,


s: Or on his owne dread presence to attend,


s: Where they behold the glorie of his light,


s: And caroll hymnes of love both day and night.


s: Both day and night is unto them all one;


s: For he his beames doth unto them extend,


s: That darknesse there appeareth never none;


s: Ne hath their day, ne hath their blisse, an end,


s: But there their termelesse time in pleasure spend;


s: Had not they dar'd their Lord to disobay.


s: But pride, impatient of long resting peace,


s: Did puffe them up with greedy bold ambition,


s: That they gan cast their state how to increase


s: Above the fortune of their first condition,


s: And sit in Gods own seat without commission:


s: The brightest angel, even the Child of Light*,


s: Drew millions more against their God to fight.


s: Th'Almighty, seeing their so bold assay,


s: And with his onely breath them blew away


s: From heavens hight, to which they did aspyre,


s: To deepest hell, and lake of damned fyre,


s: Where they in darknesse and dread horror dwell,


s: Hating the happie light from which they fell.


s: So that next off-spring of the Makers love,


s: Through pride; (for pride and love may ill agree;)


s: How then can sinfull flesh it selfe assure,


s: But that Eternall Fount of love and grace,


s: Still flowing forth his goodnesse unto all,


s: Now seeing left a waste and emptie place


s: In his wyde pallace through those angels fall,


s: Whose root from earths base groundworke should begin.


s: Therefore of clay, base, vile, and nest to nought,


s: Yet form'd by wondrous skill, and by his might


s: According to an heavenly patterne wrought,


s: Which he had fashiond in his wise foresight,


s: He man did make, and breathd a living spright


s: Into his face, most beautifull and fayre,


s: Endewd with wisedomes riches, heavenly, rare.


s: Such he him made, that he resemble might


s: Himselfe, as mortall thing immortall could;


s: He made by love out of his owne like mould,


s: In whom he might his mightie selfe behould;


s: For Love doth love the thing belov'd to see,


s: That like it selfe in lovely shape may bee.


s: No lesse than angels, whom he did ensew,


s: Fell from the hope of promist heavenly place,


s: Into the mouth of Death, to sinners dew,


s: And all his off-spring into thraldome threw,


s: Where they for ever should in bonds remaine


s: Till that great Lord of Love, which him at first


s: Made of meere love, and after liked well,


s: Seeing him lie like creature long accurst


s: Him, wretch, in doole* would let no lenger dwell,


s: But cast** out of that bondage to redeeme,


s: And pay the price, all@ were his debt extreeme.


s: In which he reigned with his glorious Syre,


s: He downe descended, like a most demisse*


s: And abiect thrall, in fleshes fraile attyre,


s: That he for him might pay sinnes deadly hyre,


s: In which he stood before his haplesse fate.


s: In flesh at first the guilt committed was,


s: Therefore in flesh it must be satisfyde;


s: Nor spirit, nor angel, though they man surpas,


s: Could make amends to God for mans misguyde,


s: But onely man himselfe, who selfe did slyde:


s: So, taking flesh of sacred virgins wombe,


s: For mans deare sake he did a man become.


s: And that most blessed bodie, which was borne


s: Without all blemish or reprochfull blame,


s: He freely gave to be both rent and torne


s: Of cruell hands, who with despightfull shame


s: Revyling him, (that them most vile became,)


s: And slew the iust by most uniust decree.


s: Of Loves deep wound, that pierst the piteous hart


s: Of that deare Lord with so entyre affection,


s: Dolours of death into his soule did dart,


s: To free his foes, that from his heast* had swerved!


s: What hart can feel least touch of so sore launch,


s: Or thought can think the depth of so deare wound?


s: Whose bleeding sourse their streames yet never staunch,


s: But stil do flow, and freshly still redownd*,


s: To heale the sores of sinfull soules unsound,


s: And clense the guilt of that infected cryme,


s: Which was enrooted in all fleshly slyme.


s: O blessed Well of Love! O Floure of Grace!


s: O glorious Morning-Starre! O Lampe of Light!


s: Meeke Lambe of God, before all worlds behight*,


s: How can we thee requite for all this good?


s: Or what can prize** that thy most precious blood?


s: Yet nought thou ask'st in lieu of all this love


s: But love of us, for guerdon of thy paine:


s: Ay me! what can us lesse than that behove?


s: Had it beene wrong to ask his owne with game?


s: Then life were least, that us so little cost.


s: Free that was thrall, and blessed that was band*;


s: Ne ought demaunds but that we loving bee,


s: As he himselfe hath lov'd us afore-hand,


s: Him first to love that was so dearely bought,


s: And next our brethren, to his image wrought.


s: Him first to love great right and reason is,


s: Who first to us our life and being gave,


s: Us wretches from the second death did save;


s: And last, the food of life, which now we have,


s: Even he himselfe, in his dear sacrament,


s: To feede our hungry soules, unto us lent.


s: Then next, to love our brethren, that were made


s: Of that selfe* mould and that self Maker's hand


s: That we, and to the same againe shall fade,


s: Where they shall have like heritage of land,


s: Which also were with selfe-same price redeemed


s: And were they not, yet since that loving Lord


s: Commaunded us to love them for his sake,


s: Even for his sake, and for his sacred word


s: Which in his last bequest he to us spake,


s: We should them love, and with their needs partake;


s: Unto us taught, and, to approve it trew,


s: Ensampled it by his most righteous deede,


s: That we the like should to the wretches shew,


s: And love our brethren; thereby to approve


s: How much himselfe that loved us we love.


s: Then rouze thy selfe, O Earth! out of thy soyle*,


s: In which thou wallowest like to filthy swyne,


s: And doest thy mynd in durty pleasures moyle**,


s: Unmindfull of that dearest Lord of thyne;


s: That thou this soveraine bountie mayst behold,


s: And read, through love, his mercies manifold.


s: Beginne from first, where he encradled was


s: In simple cratch*, wrapt in a wad of hay,


s: Betweene the toylfull oxe and humble asse,


s: When him the silly shepheards came to see,


s: Whom greatest princes sought on lowest knee.


s: From thence reade on the storie of his life,


s: His humble carriage, his unfaulty wayes,


s: His cancred foes, his fights, his toyle, his strife,


s: His paines, his povertie, his sharpe assayes,


s: Through which he past his miserable dayes,


s: Yet being malist* both by great and small.


s: And look at last, how of most wretched wights


s: He taken was, betrayd, and false accused;


s: How with most scornfull taunts and fell despights,


s: He was revyld, disgrast, and foule abused;


s: How scourgd, how crownd, how buffeted, how brused;


s: And, lastly, how twixt robbers crucifyde,


s: With bitter wounds through hands, through feet, and syde!


s: Then let thy flinty hart, that feeles no paine,


s: And let thy bowels bleede in every vaine,


s: At sight of his most sacred heavenly corse,


s: So torne and mangled with malicious forse;


s: And let thy soule, whose sins his sorrows wrought,


s: Melt into teares, and grone in grieved thought.


s: With sence whereof whilest so thy softened spirit


s: Is inly toucht, and humbled with meeke zeale


s: Through meditation of his endlesse merit,


s: Lift up thy mind to th'author of thy weale,


s: And to his soveraine mercie doe appeale;


s: Learne him to love that loved thee so deare,


s: And in thy brest his blessed image beare.


s: With all thy hart, with all thy soule and mind,


s: Thou must him love, and his beheasts embrace;


s: All other loves, with which the world doth blind


s: Weake fancies, and stirre up affections base,


s: Thou must renounce and utterly displace,


s: And give thy self unto him full and free,


s: That full and freely gave himselfe to thee.


s: Then shalt thou feele thy spirit so possest,


s: Of his dear selfe, that shall thy feeble brest


s: Inflame with love, and set thee all on fire


s: With burning zeale, through every part entire*,


s: That in no earthly thing thou shalt delight,


s: Thenceforth all worlds desire will in thee dye,


s: And all earthes glorie, on which men do gaze,


s: Seeme durt and drosse in thy pure-sighted eye,


s: Compar'd to that celestiall beauties blaze,


s: Whose glorious beames all fleshly sense doth daze


s: Blinding the eyes, and lumining the spright.


s: Then shall thy ravisht soul inspired bee


s: With heavenly thoughts, farre above humane skil,


s: And thy bright radiant eyes shall plainely see


s: Th'idee of his pure glorie present still


s: Before thy face, that all thy spirits shall fill


s: With sweete enragement of celestiall love,


s: Kindled through sight of those faire things above.


s: Rapt with the rage of mine own ravisht thought,


s: Through contemplation of those goodly sights


s: Whose wondrous beauty, breathing sweet delights,


s: Do kindle love in high conceipted sprights,


s: I faine* to tell the things that I behold,


s: But feele my wits to faile and tongue to fold.


s: Vouchsafe then, O Thou most Almightie Spright!


s: From whom all guifts of wit and knowledge flow,


s: To shed into my breast some sparkling light


s: Of thine eternall truth, that I may show


s: Some little beames to mortall eyes below


s: Of that immortall Beautie there with Thee,


s: Which in my weake distraughted mynd I see;


s: The hearts of men, which fondly here admyre


s: Faire seeming shewes, and feed on vaine delight,


s: Of those faire formes, may lift themselves up hyer,


s: And learne to love, with zealous humble dewty,


s: Th'Eternall Fountaine of that heavenly Beauty.


s: Of this base world, subiect to fleshly eye,


s: From thence to mount aloft, by order dew,


s: Of the soare faulcon* so I learne to flye.


s: That flags a while her fluttering wings beneath,


s: Till she her selfe for stronger flight can breath.


s: Then looke, who list thy gazefull eyes to feed


s: With sight of that is faire, looke on the frame


s: The endlesse kinds of creatures which by name


s: Thou canst not count, much less their natures aime;


s: All which are made with wondrous wise respect,


s: First, th'Earth, on adamantine pillers founded


s: Then th'Aire, still flitting, but yet firmely bounded


s: On everie side with pyles of flaming brands,


s: Never consum'd, nor quencht with mortall hands;


s: And last, that mightie shining cristall wall,


s: That still as every thing doth upward tend


s: And further is from earth, so still more cleare


s: And faire it growes, till to his perfect end


s: Ayre more then water, fire much more then ayre,


s: And heaven then fire, appeares more pure and fayre.


s: Looke thou no further, but affixe thine eye


s: On that bright shynie round still moving masse,


s: The house of blessed God, which men call Skye,


s: All sowd with glistring stars more thicke then grasse,


s: Whereof each other doth in brightnesse passe,


s: But those two most, which, ruling night and day,


s: As king and queene the heavens empire sway;


s: And tell me then, what hast thou ever seene


s: Or can the sight that is most sharpe and keene


s: Endure their captains flaming head to see?


s: How much lesse those, much higher in degree,


s: And so much fairer, and much more then these,


s: As these are fairer then the land and seas?


s: For farre above these heavens which here we see,


s: Be others farre exceeding these in light,


s: Not bounded, not corrupt, as these same bee,


s: But infinite in largenesse and in hight,


s: Unmoving, uncorrupt, and spotlesse bright,


s: That need no sunne t'illuminate their spheres,


s: But their owne native light farre passing theirs.


s: And as these heavens still by degrees arize,


s: Until they come to their first movers* bound,


s: That in his mightie compasse doth comprize


s: So those likewise doe by degrees redound**,


s: And rise more faire, till they at last arive


s: To the most faire, whereto they all do strive.


s: Faire is the heaven where happy soules have place,


s: Whence they doe still behold the glorious face


s: More faire is that where those Idees on hie


s: And pure Intelligences from God inspyred.


s: Yet fairer is that heaven in which do raine


s: The soveraigne Powres and mightie Potentates,


s: Which in their high protections doe containe


s: All mortall princes and imperiall states;


s: And fayrer yet whereas the royall Seates


s: From whom all earthly governance is fet*.


s: Yet farre more faire be those bright Cherubins,


s: Which all with golden wings are overdight,


s: Which from their faces dart out fierie light;


s: Yet fairer then they both, and much more bright,


s: Be th'Angels and Archangels, which attend


s: On Gods owne person, without rest or end.


s: These thus in faire each other farre excelling,


s: As to the Highest they approach more near,


s: Yet is that Highest farre beyond all telling,


s: Fairer then all the rest which there appeare,


s: Though all their beauties ioyn'd together were;


s: How then can mortall tongue hope to expresse


s: The image of such endlesse perfectnesse?


s: Cease then, my tongue! and lend unto my mynd


s: Leave to bethinke how great that Beautie is,


s: Whose utmost* parts so beautifull I fynd;


s: How much more those essentiall parts of His,


s: His truth, his love, his wisedome, and his blis,


s: His grace, his doome**, his mercy, and his might,


s: By which he lends us of himselfe a sight!


s: And shew himselfe in th'image of his grace,


s: As in a looking-glasse, through which he may


s: Be seene of all his creatures vile and base,


s: His glorious face! which glistereth else so bright,


s: That th'angels selves can not endure his sight.


s: But we, fraile wights! whose sight cannot sustaine


s: The suns bright beames when he on us doth shyne,


s: But* that their points rebutted** backe againe


s: Are duld, how can we see with feeble eyne


s: In sight of whom both sun and moone are darke,


s: Compared to his least resplendent sparke?


s: The meanes, therefore, which unto us is lent


s: Him to behold, is on his workes to looke.


s: His goodnesse, which his beautie doth declare;


s: For all thats good is beautifull and faire.


s: Thence gathering plumes of perfect speculation


s: To impe* the wings of thy high flying mynd,


s: Mount up aloft through heavenly contemplation


s: From this darke world, whose damps the soule do blynd,


s: And, like the native brood of eagles kynd,


s: On that bright Sunne of Glorie fixe thine eyes,


s: Clear'd from grosse mists of fraile infirmities.


s: Humbled with feare and awfull reverence,


s: Throw thy selfe downe, with trembling innocence,


s: For feare lest, if he chaunce to look on thee,


s: Thou turne to nought, and quite confounded be.


s: From the iust wrath of His avengefull threate


s: That sits upon the righteous throne on hy;


s: More firme and durable then steele or brasse,


s: Or the hard diamond, which them both doth passe.


s: His scepter is the rod of Righteousnesse,


s: With which he bruseth all his foes to dust,


s: And the great Dragon strongly doth represse


s: His seate is Truth, to which the faithfull trust,


s: From whence proceed her beames so pure and bright,


s: That all about him sheddeth glorious light:


s: Light farre exceeding that bright blazing sparke


s: Which darted is from Titans flaming head,


s: That with his beames enlumineth the darke


s: And dampish air, wherby al things are red*;


s: Of mortall wits, that it doth much amaze


s: The greatest wisards** which thereon do gaze.


s: But that immortall light which there doth shine


s: Is many thousand times more bright, more cleare,


s: More excellent, more glorious, more divine;


s: Through which to God all mortall actions here,


s: And even the thoughts of men, do plaine appeare;


s: For from th'Eternall Truth it doth proceed,


s: Through heavenly vertue which her beames doe breed.


s: With the great glorie of that wondrous light


s: And hid in his owne brightnesse from the sight


s: Of all that looke thereon with eyes unsound;


s: Thunder, and lightning, and tempestuous fyre,


s: Clad like a queene in royall robes, most fit


s: For so great powre and peerelesse maiesty,


s: And all with gemmes and iewels gorgeously


s: Adornd, that brighter then the starres appeare,


s: And make her native brightnes seem more cleare.


s: And in her hand a scepter she doth hold,


s: With which she rules the house of God on hy,


s: And in the same these lower creatures all


s: Both heaven and earth obey unto her will,


s: And all the creatures which they both containe;


s: For of her fulnesse, which the world doth fill,


s: They all partake, and do in state remaine


s: As their great Maker did at first ordaine,


s: Through observation of her high beheast,


s: By which they first were made, and still increast.


s: The fairnesse of her face no tongue can tell;


s: For she the daughters of all wemens race,


s: Sparkled on her from Gods owne glorious face,


s: And more increast by her owne goodly grace,


s: That it doth farre exceed all humane thought,


s: Ne could that painter (had he lived yet)


s: Which pictured Venus with so curious quill


s: Have purtray'd this, for all his maistring* skill;


s: Ne she her selfe, had she remained still,


s: And were as faire as fabling wits do fayne,


s: Could once come neare this Beauty soverayne.


s: But had those wits, the wonders of their dayes,


s: Or that sweete Teian poet*, which did spend


s: His plenteous vaine in setting forth her praise,


s: Seen but a glims of this which I pretend**,


s: How wondrously would he her face commend,


s: Above that idole of his fayning thought,


s: That all the world should with his rimes be fraught!


s: Or hope t'expresse her least perfections part,


s: Whose beautie filles the heavens with her light,


s: And darkes the earth with shadow of her sight?


s: Ah, gentle Muse! thou art too weake and faint


s: The pourtraict of so heavenly hew to paint.


s: Let angels, which her goodly face behold,


s: And see at will, her soveraigne praises sing,


s: Of that faire love of mightie Heavens King;


s: Enough is me t'admyre so heavenly thing,


s: And being thus with her huge love possest,


s: But whoso may, thrise happie man him hold


s: Of all on earth, whom God so much doth grace,


s: All ioy, all blisse, all happinesse, have place;


s: Ne ought on earth can want unto the wight


s: Who of her selfe can win the wishfull sight.


s: Plentie of riches forth on him will powre,


s: Even heavenly riches, which there hidden ly


s: Within the closet of her chastest bowre,


s: Th'eternall portion of her precious dowre,


s: Which Mighty God hath given to her free,


s: And to all those which thereof worthy bee.


s: None thereof worthy be, but those whom shee


s: And letteth them her lovely face to see,


s: Wherof such wondrous pleasures they conceave,


s: And sweete contentment, that it doth bereave


s: Their soul of sense, through infinite delight,


s: And them transport from flesh into the spright.


s: In which they see such admirable things,


s: And heare such heavenly notes and carolings


s: Of Gods high praise, that filles the brasen sky;


s: And feele such ioy and pleasure inwardly,


s: That maketh them all worldly cares forget,


s: And onely thinke on that before them set.


s: Ne from thenceforth doth any fleshly sense,


s: Or idle thought of earthly things, remaine;


s: But all that earst seemd sweet seemes now offence,


s: And all that pleased earst now seemes to paine:


s: Their ioy, their comfort, their desire, their game,


s: Is fixed all on that which now they see;


s: All other sights but fayned shadowes bee.


s: And that faire lampe which useth to enflame


s: The hearts of men with selfe-consuming fyre,


s: Thenceforth seemes fowle, and full of sinfull blame


s: And all that pompe to which proud minds aspyre


s: Seemes to them basenesse, and all riches drosse,


s: And all mirth sadnesse, and all lucre losse.


s: So full their eyes are of that glorious sight,


s: That in nought else on earth they can delight,


s: Which they have written in theyr inward ey;


s: On which they feed, and in theyr fastened mynd


s: All happie ioy and full contentment fynd.


s: Ah, then, my hungry soule! which long hast fed


s: And, with false Beauties flattring bait misled,


s: Hast after vaine deceiptfull shadowes sought,


s: Which all are fled, and now have left thee nought


s: But late repentance, through thy follies prief,


s: Ah! ceasse to gaze on matter of thy grief:


s: And looke at last up to that Soveraine Light,


s: From whose pure beams al perfect Beauty springs,


s: That kindleth love in every godly spright,


s: Even the love of God; which loathing brings


s: Of this vile world and these gay-seeming things;


s: With whose sweet pleasures being so possest,


s: Thy straying thoughts henceforth for ever rest.


s: to the Sonnets. The second and third are translated from Marot's


s: And said to her, "All hayle, my mother!"


s: Upon a day, as Love lay sweetly slumbring


s: A gentle Bee, with his loud trumpet murm'ring,


s: Whereof when he was wakened with the noyse,


s: "Whats this," quoth he, "that gives so great a voyce,


s: To whom his mother, closely* smiling, sayd,


s: "See! thou thy selfe likewise art lyttle made,


s: And yet thou suffrest neyther gods in sky,


s: Nathelesse, the cruell boy, not so content,


s: And in his hand, with heedlesse hardiment,


s: "Now out, alas," he cryde, "and welaway!


s: Unto his mother straight he weeping came,


s: Who could not chuse but laugh at his fond game,


s: "Think now," quoth she, "my son, how great the smart


s: Full many thou hast pricked to the hart,


s: She tooke him streight full pitiously lamenting,


s: She wrapt him softly, all the while repenting


s: She drest his wound, and it embaulmed well


s: And then she bath'd him in a dainty well,


s: And since that time he wounded hath my selfe


s: And now forgets the cruell carelesse elfe


s: _To the right worshipfull, my singular good frend,


s: I read**; that, sitting like a looker-on


s: Of this worldes stage, doest note with critique pen


s: Of faulty men, which daunger to thee threat:


s: But freely doest of what thee list entreat,@


s: Like a great lord of peerelesse liberty,


s: Lifting the good up to high Honours seat,


s: For life and death is in thy doomeful writing;


s: So thy renowme lives ever by endighting.


s: Whoso wil seeke, by right deserts, t'attaine


s: And not by painted shewes, and titles vaine,


s: Behold them both in their right visnomy**


s: Here truly pourtray'd as they ought to be,


s: And striving both for termes of dignitie,


s: And when thou doost with equall insight see


s: The ods twist both, of both then deem aright,


s: And chuse the better of them both to thee;


s: But thanks to him that it deserves behight@:


s: To Nenna first, that first this worke created,


s: And next to Iones, that truely it translated.


s: Wherefore doth vaine Antiquitie so vaunt


s: Her ancient monuments of mightie peeres,


s: And old heröes, which their world did daunt


s: With their great deedes and fild their childrens eares?


s: Who, rapt with wonder of their famous praise,


s: Admire their statues, their colossoes great,


s: Their rich triumphall arcks which they did raise,


s: Their huge pyrámids, which do heaven threat.


s: Lo! one, whom later age hath brought to light,


s: Matchable to the greatest of those great;


s: Great both by name, and great in power and might,


s: And meriting a meere** triumphant seate.


s: The scourge of Turkes, and plague of infidels,


s: Thy acts, O Scanderbeg, this volume tels.


s: The antique Babel, empresse of the East,


s: Upreard her buildinges to the threatned skie:


s: Her ayry towers upraised much more high.


s: But with the weight of their own surquedry**


s: They both are fallen, that all the earth did feare,


s: Yet shewing, by their heapes, how great they were.


s: But in their place doth now a third appeare,


s: Fayre Venice, flower of the last worlds delight;


s: And next to them in beauty draweth neare,


s: Yet not so fayre her buildinges to behold


s: As Lewkenors stile that hath her beautie told.


s: The Ruines of Time v. 353, covetize, Q. covertize.


s: The Ruines of Time v. 541, ocean, Q. Occaean.


s: The Ruines of Time v. 675, worldës, Q. worlds.


s: The Teares of the Muses v. 600, living (ed. 1611), Q. loving.


s: Virgils Gnat v. 340, seest thou not (ed. 1611), Q. seest thou.


s: Virgils Gnat v. 575, billowes, Q. billowe.


s: Prosopopoia v. 997, whether, Q. whither.


s: Prosopopoia v. 1019, whither, Q. whether.


s: Ruines of Rome xviii. 5, ornaments, Q. ornament.


s: Muiopotmos v. 250, dispacing, Q. displacing.


s: Muiopotmos v. 431, yongthly, Q. yougthly.


s: The Visions of Bellay ii. 8, one, Q. on.


s: The Visions of Bellay ix. 1, astonied, Q. astoined.


s: The Visions of Petrarche vii. 1, behold, Q. beheld.


s: Epithalmion v. 341, Pouke, orig. ed. ponke.


s: _To the Worshipfull, his very singular good friend,


s: ouertake you. _Veruntamen te solum sequar, (vt saepenumero sum


s: Vnhappie Verse, the witnesse of my vnhappie state,


s: Make thy selfe fluttring wings of thy fast flying


s: Thought, and fly forth vnto my love whersoeuer she be:


s: Whether lying reastlesse in heauy bedde, or else


s: Sitting so cheerelesse at the cheerfull boorde, or else


s: Playing alone carelesse on hir heauenlie virginals.


s: If in bed, tell hir, that my eyes can take no reste;


s: If at boorde, tell hir, that my mouth can eate no meate;


s: If at hir virginals, tel hir, I can heare no mirth.


s: Asked why? say, Waking loue suffereth no sleepe;


s: Say, that raging loue dothe appall the weake stomacke;


s: Say, that lamenting loue marreth the musicall.


s: Tell hir, that hir pleasures were wonte to lull me asleepe;


s: Tell hir, that hir beautie was wonte to feede mine eyes;


s: Tell hir, that hir sweete tongue was wonte to make me mirth.


s: Nowe doe I nightly waste, wanting my kindely reste;


s: Nowe doe I dayly starue, wanting my liuely foode;


s: Nowe doe I alwayes dye, wanting thy timely mirth.


s: And if I waste, who will bewaile my heauy chaunce?


s: And if I starue, who will record my cursed end?


s: And if I dye, who will saye, _This was Immerito?_


s: _Ad ornatissimum virum, multis iam diu nominibus clarissimum,


s: Sic malus egregium, sic non inimicus amicum,


s: Sicque nouus veterem iubet ipse poeta poetam


s: Saluere, ac caelo, post secula multa, secundo,


s: Iam reducem, (caelo mage quam nunc ipse sccundo)


s: Vtier. Ecce deus, (modo sit deus ille, renixum


s: Qui vocet in scelus, et iuratos perdat amores)


s: Ecce deus mihi clara dedit modo signa marinus,


s: Et sua veligero lenis parat aequora ligno


s: Mox sulcanda; suas etiam pater AEolus iras


s: Cuncta vijs sic apta meis: ego solus ineptus.


s: Nam mihi nescio quo mens saucia vulnere, dudum


s: Fluctuat ancipiti pelago, dum navita proram


s: Inualidam validus rapit huc Amor, et rapit illuc


s: Consilijs Ratio melioribus vsa, Decusque


s: Immortale leui diffissa Cupidinis arcu*:


s: Angimur hoc dubio, et portu vexamur in ipso.


s: Magne pharetrati nunc tu contemptor Amoris,


s: (Id tibi Dij nomen precor haud impune remittant)


s: Hos nodos exsolue, et eris mihi magnus Apollo!


s: Spiritus ad summos, scio, te generosus honores


s: Exstimulat, majusque docet spirare poetam.


s: Quam leuis est Amor, et tamen haud leuis est Amor omnis.


s: Ergo nihil laudi reputas aequale perenni,


s: Praeque sacrosancta splendoris imagine tanti,


s: Caetera, quae vecors, vti numina, vulgus adorat,


s: Praedia, amicitias, vrbana peculia, nummos,


s: Quaeque placent oculis, formas, spectacula, amores,


s: Conculcare soles, vt humum, et ludibria sensus:


s: Digna meo certe Haruejo sententia, digna


s: Oratore amplo, et generoso pectore, quam non


s: Stoica formidet veterum sapientia vinclis


s: Sancire aeternis: sapor haud tamen omnibus idem.


s: Quamlibet ignoti iactata per aequora caeli,


s: Inque procelloso longum exsul gurgite ponto,


s: Prae tamen amplexu lachrymosae conjugis, ortus


s: Caelestes, Diuûmque thoros spreuisse beatos.


s: Tantum amor, et mulier, vel amore potetitior. Ilium


s: Tu tamen illudis; tua magnificentia tanta est:


s: Praeque subumbrata splendoris imagine tanti,


s: Praeque illo meritis famosis nomine parto,


s: Praedia, amicitias, armenta, peculia, nummos,


s: Quaeque placent ori, quaeque auribus, omnia temnis.


s: Nae tu grande sapis! sapor et sapientia non est:


s: Omnis et in paruis bene qui scit desipuisse,


s: Saepe supercilijs palmam sapientibus aufert.


s: Ludit Aristippum modo tetrica turba sophorum,


s: Mitia purpureo moderantem verba tyranno;


s: Ludit Aristippus dictamina vana sophorum,


s: Quos leuis emensi male torquet Culicis vmbra:


s: Et quisquis placuisse studet heroibus altis,


s: Desipuisse studet; sic gratia crescit ineptis.


s: Denique laurigeris quisquis sua tempora vittis


s: Insignire volet, populoque placere fauenti,


s: Desipere insanus discit, turpemque pudendae


s: Stultitiae laudem quaerit. Pater Ennuis vnus


s: Dictus in innumeris sapiens: laudatur at ipse


s: Nec tu, pace tua, nostri Cato Maxime saecli,


s: Quantumvis illustre canas, et nobile carmen,


s: Ni _stultire_ velis; sic stultorum omnia plena.


s: Tuta sed in medio superest via gurgite; nam qui


s: Nec reliquis nimium vult desipuisse videri,


s: Nec sapuisse nimis, sapientem dixeris vnum:


s: Hinc te merserit vnda, illine combusserit ignis.


s: Nec tu delicias nimis aspernare fluentes,


s: Nec sero dominam venientem in vota, nec aurum,


s: Si sapis, oblatum: (Curijs ea, Fabricijsque


s: Grande sui decus ij, nostri sed dedecus aeui;)


s: Nec sectare nimis: res vtraque crimine plena.


s: Hoc bene qui callet, (si quis tamen hoc bene callet,)


s: Scribe vel invito sapientem hunc Socrate solum.


s: Vis facit vna pios, iustos facit altera, et alt'ra


s: Egregie cordata ac fortia pectora: verum


s: _Omne tulit punctum, qui miscuit vtile dulci._


s: Dij mihi dulce diu dederant, verum vtile nunquam:


s: Vtile nunc etiam, o vtinam quoque dulce dedissent.


s: Dij mihi, (quippe Dijs aequalia maxima paruis,)


s: Ni nimis inuideant mortalibus esse beatis,


s: Dulce simul tribuisse queant, simul vtile: tanta


s: Sed fortuna tua est: pariter quaeque vtile, quaeque


s: Dulce dat ad placitum: sseuo nos sydere nati


s: Quaesitum imus eam per inhospita Caucasa longe,


s: Perque Pyrenaeos montes, Babilonaque turpem.


s: Quod si quaesitum nec ibi invenerimus, ingens


s: AEquor inexhaustis permensi erroribus vltra


s: Fluctibus in medijs socij quaeremus Vlyssis:


s: Passibus inde deam fessis comitabimur aegram,


s: Nobile cui furtum quaerenti defuit orbis.


s: Namque sinu pudet in patrio tenebrisque pudendis,


s: Non nimis ingenio iuuenem infoelice virentes


s: Officijs frustra deperdere vilibus annos,


s: Frugibus et vacuas speratis cernere spicas.


s: Ibimus ergo statim, (quis eutiti fausta precetur?)


s: Et pede clivosas fesso calcabimus Alpes.


s: Quis dabit interea, conditas rore Britanno,


s: Quis tibi litterulas, quis carmen amore petulcum!


s: Musa sub Oebalij desueta cacumine mentis,


s: Flebit inexhausto tarn longa silentia planctu,


s: Lugebitque sacrum lacrymis Helicona tacentem.


s: Harueiusque bonus, (charus licet omnibus idem,)


s: Idque suo merito prope suauior omnibus, vnus


s: Angelus et Gabriel, quamuis comitatus araicis


s: Innumeris, geniûmque choro stipatus amaeno,


s: _Immerito_ tamen vnum absentem saepe requiret;


s: Optabitque, Utinam meus hic _Edmundus_ adesset,


s: Qui noua scripsisset, nee amores conticuisset,


s: Ipse suos; et saepe animo verbisque benignis


s: Fausta precaretur, _Deus illum aliqaundo reducat_. &c.


s: Plura vellem per Charites, sed non licet per Musas.


s: Vale, Vale plurimum, Mi amabilissime Harueie, meo cordi, meorum


s: _To my long approoued and singular good frende,


s: See yee the blindefolded pretie god, that feathered archer,


s: Of louers miseries which maketh his bloodie game?


s: Wote ye why his moother with a veale hath coouered his face?


s: Trust me, least he my looue happely chaunce to beholde.


s: That which I eate, did I ioy, and that which I greedily gorged;


s: As for those many goodly matters leaft I for others.


s: leysure, to sette forth a booke in this kinde, whyche I entitle,


s: extraordinarily desire. _Multum vale.  Westminster.  Quarto Nonas


s: But Master Collin Cloute is not euery body, and albeit his olde


s: admiration and wonderment of the whole countrey: being, in deede,


s: In the next two Classes, not only the number of stamens are to be


s: Descend, ye hovering Sylphs! aerial Quires,


s: And sweep with little hands your silver lyres;


s: With fairy footsteps print your grassy rings,


s: Ye Gnomes! accordant to the tinkling strings;


s: Gay hopes, and amorous sorrows of the mead.--


s: From giant Oaks, that wave their branches dark,


s: To the dwarf Moss, that clings upon their bark,


s: What Beaux and Beauties crowd the gaudy groves,


s: How Snowdrops cold, and blue-eyed Harebels blend


s: Their tender tears, as o'er the stream they bend;


s: The lovesick Violet, and the Primrose pale


s: Bow their sweet heads, and whisper to the gale;


s: And jealous Cowslips hang their tawny cups.


s: How the young Rose in beauty's damask pride


s: Drinks the warm blushes of his bashful bride;


s: With honey'd lips enamour'd Woodbines meet,


s: Stay thy soft-murmuring waters, gentle Rill;


s: Hush, whispering Winds, ye ruflling Leaves, be still;


s: Rest, silver Butterflies, your quivering wings;


s: Alight, ye Beetles, from your airy rings;


s: Bow your wide horns, your spiral trunks uncurl;


s: Glitter, ye Glow-worms, on your mossy beds;


s: Descend, ye Spiders, on your lengthen'd threads;


s: Slide here, ye horned Snails, with varnish'd shells;


s: Bad his keen eye your secret haunts explore


s: On dewy dell, high wood, and winding shore;


s: How laugh the Pleasures in a blossom's bell;


s: Aim their light shafts, and point their little stings.


s: First the tall CANNA lifts his curled brow


s: The virtuous pair, in milder regions born,


s: Dread the rude blast of Autumn's icy morn;


s: Round the chill fair he folds his crimson vest,


s: And clasps the timorous beauty to his breast.


s: Smit with thy starry eye and radiant hair;--


s: On the green margin sits the youth, and laves


s: His floating train of tresses in the waves;


s: Sees his fair features paint the streams that pass,


s: _Two_ brother swains, of COLLIN'S gentle name,


s: The same their features, and their forms the same,


s: Knit the dark brow, and roll the unsteady eye.


s: And sooths with smiles the jealous pair by turns.


s: Sweet blooms GENISTA in the myrtle shade,


s: And _ten_ fond brothers woo the haughty maid.


s: _Two_ knights before thy fragrant altar bend,


s: MEADIA'S soft chains _five_ suppliant beaux confess,


s: And hand in hand the laughing belle address;


s: Rolls her dark eye, and waves her golden hair.


s: Meets her fond husband with averted eye:


s: _Four_ beardless youths the obdurate beauty move


s: With vain desires the pensive ALCEA burns,


s: And _three_ unjealous husbands wed the dame.


s: CUPRESSUS dark disdains his dusky bride,


s: _One_ dome contains them, but _two_ beds divide.


s: These vegetable monsters are formed in many ways. 1st. By the


s: Posse linenda cedre, & lavi servanda cupresso._


s: A Monster-birth! and lifts his hundred heads;


s: Yet with soft love a gentle belle he charms,


s: Sigh'd o'er each strange and piteous tale, distress'd,


s: With thee, ANTHOXA! lead ambrosial lives;


s: Where the wide heath in purple pride extends,


s: And scatter'd furze its golden lustre blends,


s: Bosom'd in fragrance blush their infant train,


s: Eye the warm sun, or drink the silver rain.


s: Till the green progeny betrays her loves.


s: With charms despotic fair CHONDRILLA reigns


s: O'er the soft hearts of _five_ fraternal swains;


s: If sighs the changeful nymph, alike they mourn;


s: Sounds in sweet symphony thy kindred wire;


s: Now, gently swept by Zephyr's vernal wings,


s: Sink in soft cadences the love-sick strings;


s: Peal the full anthems of the aerial choir.


s: _Five_ sister-nymphs to join Diana's train


s: With thee, fair LYCHNIS! vow,--but vow in vain;


s: Beneath one roof resides the virgin band,


s: But when soft hours on breezy pinions move,


s: And smiling May attunes her lute to love,


s: Each wanton beauty, trick'd in all her grace,


s: Shakes the bright dew-drops from her blushing face;


s: And calls her wondering lovers to her arms.


s: When the young Hours amid her tangled hair


s: Wove the fresh rose-bud, and the lily fair,


s: Proud GLORIOSA led _three_ chosen swains,


s: --When Time's rude hand a bark of wrinkles spread


s: Round her weak limbs, and silver'd o'er her head,


s: _Three_ other youths her riper years engage,


s: With fatal smiles her gay unconscious son.--


s: Clasp'd in his arms she own'd a mother's name,--


s: "Desist, rash youth! restrain your impious flame,


s: "First on that bed your infant-form was press'd,


s: Back as from death he sprung, with wild amaze


s: Fierce on the fair he fix'd his ardent gaze;


s: Dropp'd on one knee, his frantic arms outspread,


s: And stole a guilty glance toward the bed;


s: And bent on heaven his pale repentant brow;


s: "Thus, thus!" he cried, and plung'd the furious dart,


s: And life and love gush'd mingled from his heart.


s: The harlot-band _ten_ lofty bravoes screen,


s: And frowning guard the magic nets unseen.--


s: Haste, glittering nations, tenants of the air,


s: Oh, steer from hence your viewless course afar!


s: The _three_ dread Syrens lure you to their toils,


s: Limed by their art in vain you point your stings,


s: In vain the efforts of your whirring wings!--


s: Go, seek your gilded mates and infant hives,


s: When heaven's high vault condensing clouds deform,


s: Fair AMARYLLIS flies the incumbent storm,


s: Seeks with unsteady step the shelter'd vale,


s: And turns her blushing beauties from the gale.--


s: Calm all her fears, and charm her cares to rest.--


s: So shines at eve the sun-illumin'd fane,


s: Lifts its bright cross, and waves its golden vane;


s: From every breeze the polish'd axle turns,


s: _Four_ of the giant brood with ILEX stand,


s: Each grasps a thousand arrows in his hand;


s: Needwood-forest serve as landmarks to direct the travellers


s: Form the bright terrors of his bristly male.--


s: Sudden with rage their _injur'd_ bosoms burn,


s: _Unwrong'd_, as gentle as the breeze that sweeps


s: They guard, the Kings of Needwood's wide domains,


s: Their sister-wives and fair infantine trains;


s: Lead the lone pilgrim through the trackless glade,


s: Or guide in leafy wilds the wand'ring maid.


s: Hurls his red lavas to the troubled night;


s: From Calpè starts the intolerable flash,


s: Skies burst in flames, and blazing oceans dash;--


s: Or bids in sweet repose his shades recede,


s: On the pale stream expiring Zephyrs sink,


s: And Moonlight sleeps upon its hoary brink.


s: Gigantic Nymph! the fair KLEINHOVIA reigns,


s: O'er her warm cheek the blush of beauty swims,


s: And nerves Herculean bend her sinewy limbs;


s: With frolic eye she views the affrighted throng,


s: With playful violence displays her charms,


s: And bears her trembling lovers in her arms.


s: So fair THALESTRIS shook her plumy crest,


s: And bound in rigid mail her jutting breast;


s: And Beauty thunder'd from Bellona's car;


s: Greece arm'd in vain, her captive heroes wove


s: The chains of conquest with the wreaths of love.


s: When o'er the cultured lawns and dreary wastes


s: Bends in tumultuous waves the struggling woods,


s: And showers their leafy honours on the floods,


s: In withering heaps collects the flowery spoil,


s: And each chill insect sinks beneath the soil;


s: And folds her infant closer in her arms;


s: In some lone cave, secure pavilion, lies,


s: And waits the courtship of serener skies.--


s: So, six cold moons, the Dormouse charm'd to rest,


s: In fields of Fancy climbs the kernel'd groves,


s: Or shares the golden harvest with his loves.--


s: But bright from earth amid the troubled air


s: Ascends fair COLCHICA with radiant hair,


s: And lights with Beauty's blaze the dusky sphere.


s: _Three_ blushing Maids the intrepid Nymph attend,


s: And _six_ gay Youths, enamour'd train! defend.


s: So shines with silver guards the Georgian star,


s: Hangs o'er the billowy clouds his lucid form,


s: Wades through the mist, and dances in the storm.


s: GREAT HELIANTHUS guides o'er twilight plains


s: With zealous step he climbs the upland lawn,


s: constitute the disk of this flower, contain in each five males


s: Queen of the marsh, imperial DROSERA treads


s: Rush-fringed banks, and moss-embroider'd beds;


s: Her slender waist, and trail upon the ground;


s: Or spread the floating purple to the breeze;


s: And _five_ fair youths with duteous love comply


s: With each soft mandate of her moving eye.


s: As with sweet grace her snowy neck she bows,


s: Bright shines the silver halo, as she turns;


s: And, as she steps, the living lustre burns.


s: And decks with brighter blush the vermil dawn;


s: And scents with sweeter breath the summer-gales;


s: With artless grace and native ease she charms,


s: And bears the Horn of Plenty in her arms.


s: _Five_ rival Swains their tender cares unfold,


s: Where rears huge Tenerif his azure crest,


s: Where erst Volcanos min'd the rocky ground.


s: The shaggy steeps, _two_ menial youths attend.


s: High in the setting ray the beauty stands,


s: And her tall shadow waves on distant lands.


s: ----Scorning the sordid soil, aloft she springs,


s: Shakes her white plume, and claps her golden wings;


s: High o'er the fields of boundless ether roves,


s: And seeks amid the clouds her soaring loves!


s: Queen of the coral groves, ZOSTERA sleeps;


s: The silvery sea-weed matted round her bed,


s: And distant surges murmuring o'er her head.--


s: High in the flood her azure dome ascends,


s: Roof'd with translucent shell the turrets blaze,


s: And far in ocean dart their colour'd rays;


s: O'er the white floor successive shadows move,


s: As rise and break the ruffled waves above.--


s: And weave with orient pearl her radiant hair;


s: With rapid fins she cleaves the watery way,


s: Sounds a loud conch, convokes a scaly band,


s: E'en round the pole the flames of Love aspire,


s: And icy bosoms feel the _secret_ fire!--


s: Cradled in snow and fann'd by arctic air


s: Shines, gentle BAROMETZ! thy golden hair;


s: And round and round her flexile neck she bends;


s: Crops the grey coral moss, and hoary thyme,


s: Or laps with rosy tongue the melting rime;


s: Eyes with mute tenderness her distant dam,


s: --So, warm and buoyant in his oily mail,


s: Gambols on seas of ice the unwieldy Whale;


s: Wide-waving fins round floating islands urge


s: His bulk gigantic through the troubled surge;


s: Or clasps with fringe of horn his massy cheeks;


s: Lifts o'er the tossing wave his nostrils bare,


s: The silvery arches catch the setting beams,


s: Weak with nice sense, the chaste MIMOSA stands,


s: From each rude touch withdraws her timid hands;


s: Oft as light clouds o'er-pass the Summer-glade,


s: Alarm'd she trembles at the moving shade;


s: The whisper'd murmurs of the gathering storm;


s: Shuts her sweet eye-lids to approaching night;


s: And hails with freshen'd charms the rising light.


s: Veil'd, with gay decency and modest pride,


s: There her soft vows unceasing love record,


s: Queen of the bright seraglio of her Lord.--


s: So sinks or rises with the changeful hour


s: With fine librations quivering as it moves.


s: All wan and shivering in the leafless glade


s: Grief on her cheeks had paled the roseate hue,


s: --"See, from bright regions, borne on odorous gales


s: The Swallow, herald of the summer, sails;


s: "Breathe, gentle AIR! from cherub-lips impart


s: Thy balmy influence to my anguish'd heart;


s: Whose pencil paints them, and whose breath perfumes;


s: O chase the Fiend of Frost, with leaden mace


s: Who seals in death-like sleep my hapless race;


s: Melt his hard heart, release his iron hand,


s: So may each bud, that decks the brow of spring,


s: Shed all its incense on thy wafting wing!"--


s: To her fond prayer propitious Zephyr yields,


s: Sweeps on his sliding shell through azure fields,


s: Gives with new life her filial train to rise,


s: And hail with kindling smiles the genial skies.


s: So shines the Nymph in beauty's blushing pride,


s: Tears with rude kiss her bosom's gauzy veil,


s: And flings the fluttering kerchief to the gale.


s: Glides the gilt Landau o'er the velvet lawn,


s: And soft airs fan them, as they roll along.


s: Where frowning Snowden bends his dizzy brow


s: O'er Conway, listening to the surge below;


s: Retiring LICHEN climbs the topmost stone,


s: Bright shine the stars unnumber'd _o'er her head_,


s: And the cold moon-beam gilds her flinty bed;


s: While round the rifted rocks hoarse whirlwinds breathe,


s: And dark with thunder sail the clouds _beneath_.--


s: And tracks her light step o'er th' imprinted dews,


s: Delighted Hymen gives his torch to blaze,


s: Winds round the craggs, and lights the mazy ways;


s: Sheds o'er their _secret_ vows his influence chaste,


s: High in the front of heaven when Sirius glares,


s: And o'er Britannia shakes his fiery hairs;


s: When no soft shower descends, no dew distills,


s: Her wave-worn channels dry, and mute her rills;


s: And parch'd earth gapes beneath the withering glades.


s: --With languid step fair DYPSACA retreats;


s: "Fall gentle dews!" the fainting nymph repeats;


s: Seeks the low dell, and in the sultry shade


s: _Four_ silvan youths in crystal goblets bear


s: The untasted treasure to the grateful fair;


s: Pleased from their hands with modest grace she sips,


s: And the cool wave reflects her coral lips.


s: Her vermil dyes, and o'er the cauldron bends;


s: Warm 'mid the rising steam the Beauty glows,


s: With chemic art _four_ favour'd youths aloof


s: O'er Age's cheek the warmth of youth diffuse,


s: Or deck the pale-eyed nymph in roseate hues.


s: From plunder'd COLCHIS bore the golden fleece;


s: Pleased on the boiling wave old ÆSON swims,


s: And feels new vigour stretch his swelling limbs;


s: Through his thrill'd nerves forgotten ardors dart,


s: With softer fires his kindling eye-balls glow,


s: And darker tresses wanton round his brow.


s: As dash the waves on India's breezy strand,


s: Her flush'd cheek press'd upon her lily hand,


s: Calls her lost lover, and upbraids the skies;


s: For him she breathes the silent sigh, forlorn,


s: Each setting-day; for him each rising morn.--


s: "Bright orbs, that light yon high etherial plain,


s: Pale moon, that silver'st o'er night's sable brow;--


s: For ye were witness to his parting vow!--


s: Ye shelving rocks, dark waves, and sounding shore,--


s: Ye echoed sweet the tender words he swore!--


s: O guide my wanderer to my arms again!"--


s: And seeks her Lord amid the trackless tides;


s: Her _secret_ vows the Cyprian Queen approves,


s: Each in his floating cradle round they throng,


s: And dimpling Ocean bears the fleet along.--


s: Thus o'er the waves, which gently bend and swell,


s: Hear her sweet voice, and glide along the main.


s: As round the wild meandering coast she moves


s: By gushing rills, rude cliffs, and nodding groves;


s: Each by her pine the Wood-nymphs wave their locks,


s: Pleased trains of Mermaids rise from coral cells,


s: Admiring Tritons sound their twisted shells;


s: Charm'd o'er the car pursuing Cupids sweep,


s: Their snow-white pinions twinkling in the deep;


s: Soft sighs the Gale, and amorous Ocean burns.


s: On DOVE'S green brink the fair TREMELLA stood,


s: And view'd her playful image in the flood;


s: To each rude rock, lone dell, and echoing grove


s: "Oh, stay!--return!"--along the sounding shore


s: Cry'd the sad Naiads,--she return'd no more!--


s: Now girt with clouds the sullen Evening frown'd,


s: And withering Eurus swept along the ground;


s: And sunk with Hesper in the skirt of night;


s: No dim electric streams, (the northern dawn,)


s: With meek effulgence quiver'd o'er the lawn;


s: No star benignant shot one transient ray


s: Round the dark craggs the murmuring whirlwinds blow,


s: Woods groan above, and waters roar below;


s: As o'er the steeps with pausing foot she moves,


s: The pitying Dryads shriek amid their groves;


s: --As the bleak blast unfurls her fluttering vest,


s: Cold beats the snow upon her shuddering breast;


s: Through her numb'd limbs the chill sensations dart,


s: "I sink, I fall! oh, help me, help!" she cries,


s: Her stiffening tongue the unfinish'd sound denies;


s: Tear after tear adown her cheek succeeds,


s: And pearls of ice bestrew the glittering meads;


s: Arrest her flight, and root her to the ground;


s: With suppliant arms she pours the silent prayer;


s: Her suppliant arms hang crystal in the air;


s: Pellucid films her shivering neck o'erspread,


s: Veil her pale bosom, glaze her lifted hands,


s: And shrined in ice the beauteous statue stands.


s: --DOVE'S azure nymphs on each revolving year


s: And sound the sorrowing shell to hapless love."


s: Here paused the MUSE,--across the darken'd pole


s: Sail the dim clouds, the echoing thunders roll;


s: The trembling Wood-nymphs, as the tempest lowers,


s: Hang the mute lyre the laurel shade beneath,


s: And round her temples bind the myrtle wreath.


s: --Now the light swallow with her airy brood


s: Skims the green meadow, and the dimpled flood;


s: Th' alarmed beetle sounds his bugle horn;


s: Each pendant spider winds with fingers fine


s: His ravel'd clue, and climbs along the line;


s: Gay Gnomes in glittering circles stand aloof


s: Swift bees returning seek their waxen cells,


s: And Sylphs cling quivering in the lily's bells.


s: Through the still air descend the genials showers,


s: And pearly rain-drops deck the laughing flowers.


s: "And Kennet swift for silver Eels _renown'd_."


s: "And Kennet swift, where silver Graylings _play_."


s: _B_. Is then the office of poetry only to amuse?


s: _B_. Do not Personifications and Allegories distinguish poetry?


s: But let Concealment, like a worm i' th' bud,


s: "To Reason I flew, and intreated her aid,


s: Who paused on my case, and each circumstance weigh'd;


s: Then gravely reply'd in return to my prayer,


s: That Hebe was fairest of all that were fair.


s: That's a truth, reply'd I, I've no need to be taught,


s: I came to you, Reason, to find out a fault.


s: If that's all, says Reason, return as you came,


s: To find fault with Hebe would forfeit my name."


s: Again the Goddess strikes the golden lyre,


s: And tunes to wilder notes the warbling wire;


s: With soft suspended step Attention moves,


s: And Silence hovers o'er the listening groves;


s: And the green vault reverberates the song.


s: "Breathe soft, ye Gales!" the fair CARLINA cries,


s: Bear on broad wings your Votress to the skies.


s: How bright, when Iris blending many a ray


s: Binds in embroider'd wreath the brow of Day;


s: Soft, when the pendant Moon with lustres pale


s: O'er heaven's blue arch unfurls her milky veil;


s: Dart on swift shuttles o'er the tissued night!


s: "Breathe soft, ye Zephyrs! hear my fervent sighs,


s: Bear on broad wings your Votress to the skies!"--


s: --Plume over plume in long divergent lines


s: Inlays with eider down the silken strings,


s: And weaves in wide expanse Dædalian wings;


s: Round her bold sons the waving pennons binds,


s: And walks with angel-step upon the winds.


s: Launch'd the vast concave of his buoyant ball.--


s: Journeying on high, the silken castle glides


s: Bright as a meteor through the azure tides;


s: O'er towns and towers and temples wins its way,


s: Silent with upturn'd eyes unbreathing crowds


s: Pursue the floating wonder to the clouds;


s: And, flush'd with transport or benumb'd with fear,


s: Watch, as it rises, the diminish'd sphere.


s: And now the fleeting rack obtrudes between!--


s: With bended knees, raised arms, and suppliant brow


s: To every shrine with mingled cries they vow.--


s: "Save Him, ye Saints! who o'er the good preside;


s: Views broader stars, and breathes in purer gales;


s: Round Earth's blue plains her lucid waters mine;


s: And hears innocuous thunders roar below.


s: ----Rife, great MONGOLFIER! urge thy venturous flight


s: High o'er the Moon's pale ice-reflected light;


s: High o'er the pearly Star, whose beamy horn.


s: Leave the red eye of Mars on rapid wing;


s: Jove's silver guards, and Saturn's dusky ring;


s: Leave the fair beams, which, issuing from afar;


s: Play with new lustres round the Georgian star;


s: The sparkling zodiack, and the milky zone;


s: Where headlong Comets with increasing force


s: Through other systems bend their blazing course.--


s: High o'er the North thy golden orb shall roll,


s: And blaze eternal round the wondering pole.


s: Lights with new stars the blue etherial plain;


s: And the bold course, which first it steer'd, directs.


s: Inventress of the Woof, fair LINA flings


s: The flying shuttle through the dancing strings;


s: Inlays the broider'd weft with flowery dyes,


s: Slow from the beam the lengths of warp unwind,


s: And dance and nod the massy weights behind.--


s: Taught by her labours, from the fertile soil


s: Immortal Isis clothed the banks of Nile;


s: _Five_ Sister-nymphs with dewy fingers twine


s: The beamy flax, and stretch the fibre-line;


s: Quick eddying threads from rapid spindles reel,


s: --Charm'd round the busy Fair _five_ shepherds press,


s: Praise the nice texture of their snowy dress,


s: Admire the Artists, and the art approve,


s: And tell with honey'd words the tale of love.


s: Through vaulted mountains, and a night of woods,


s: The  Nymph, GOSSYPIA, treads the velvet sod,


s: And warms with rosy smiles the watery God;


s: His ponderous oars to slender spindles turns,


s: With playful charms her hoary lover wins,


s: And wields his trident,--while the Monarch spins.


s: --First with nice eye emerging Naiads cull


s: The tanged knots, and smooth the ravell'd fleece;


s: Next moves the _iron-band_ with fingers fine,


s: Combs the wide card, and forms the eternal line;


s: Slow, with soft lips, the _whirling Can_ acquires


s: With quicken'd pace _successive rollers_ move,


s: And these retain, and those extend the _rove_;


s: Then fly the spoles, the rapid axles glow;--


s: And slowly circumvolves the labouring wheel below.


s: Spread her smooth leaf, and waved her silver style.


s: --The storied pyramid, the laurel'd bust,


s: The trophy'd arch had crumbled into dust;


s: With each unconquer'd chief, or fainted maid,


s: Sunk undistinguish'd in Oblivion's shade.


s: Sad o'er the scatter'd ruins Genius sigh'd,


s: And infant Arts but learn'd to lisp and died.


s: To paint in mystic colours Sound and Thought.


s: With Wisdom's voice to print the page sublime,


s: --Three favour'd youths her soft attention share,


s: Hear her sweet voice, the golden process prove;


s: Gaze, as they learn; and, as they listen, love.


s: The letter'd tribes along the level lines;


s: And breaks in syllables the volant word.


s: Then forms _the next_ upon the marshal'd plain


s: In deepening ranks his dexterous cypher-train;


s: And counts, as wheel the decimating bands,


s: And then _the third_ on four concordant lines


s: Prints the lone crotchet, and the quaver joins;


s: Marks the gay trill, the solemn pause inscribes,


s: And parts with bars the undulating tribes.


s: Clap'd their rude hands, their swarthy foreheads bow'd;


s: With loud acclaim "a present God!" they cry'd,


s: "A present God!" rebellowing shores reply'd--


s: Then peal'd at intervals with mingled swell


s: While Bards ecstatic, bending o'er the lyre,


s: Struck deeper chords, and wing'd the song with fire.


s: Then mark'd Astronomers with keener eyes


s: The Moon's refulgent journey through the skies;


s: And weigh'd the Sun with his revolving Stars.


s: High raised the Chemists their Hermetic wands,


s: (And changing forms obey'd their waving hands,)


s: Her treasur'd gold from Earth's deep chambers tore,


s: All with bent knee from fair PAPYRA claim


s: Wove by her hands the wreath of deathless fame.


s: --Exulting Genius crown'd his darling child,


s: The young Arts clasp'd her knees, and Virtue smiled.


s: Her paper foliage, and her silken flowers;


s: Her virgin train the tender scissars ply,


s: Vein the green leaf, the purple petal dye:


s: Round wiry stems the flaxen tendril bends,


s: Cold Winter views amid his realms of snow


s: Smooths his stern brow, delays his hoary wing,


s: And eyes with wonder all the blooms of spring.


s: Watch with nice eye the Earth's diurnal way,


s: Her slow nutation, and her varying clime,


s: Round his light foot a magic chain they fling,


s: And count the quick vibrations of his wing.--


s: First in its brazen cell reluctant roll'd


s: Bends the dark spring in many a steely fold;


s: Tooth urges tooth, and wheel drives wheel along;


s: In diamond-eyes the polish'd axles flow,


s: Smooth slides the hand, the ballance pants below.


s: And brightly pencil'd on the enamel'd sphere


s: Live the fair trophies of the passing year.


s: --Here _Time's_ huge fingers grasp his giant-mace,


s: And dash proud Superstition from her base,


s: The crumbling fragments round her guilty head.


s: There the gay _Hours_, whom wreaths of roses deck,


s: Lead their young trains amid the cumberous wreck;


s: And, slowly purpling o'er the mighty waste,


s: While each light _Moment_, as it dances by


s: With feathery foot and pleasure-twinkling eye,


s: Feeds from its baby-hand, with many a kiss,


s: Change their thin forms, and lose their lucid dyes;


s: So the soft bloom of Beauty's vernal charms


s: Fades in our eyes, and withers in our arms.


s: --Bright as the silvery plume, or pearly shell,


s: Warm'd every Sage, and every Shepherd won.--


s: Round the gay sisters press the _enamour'd bands_,


s: And seek with soft solicitude their hands.


s: The glance divine, that lighten'd in their eyes;


s: Cold are those lips, where smiles seductive hung,


s: And the weak accents linger on their tongue;


s: Each roseat feature fades to livid green,--


s: So from his gorgeous throne, which awed the world,


s: The mighty Monarch of the east was hurl'd,


s: To dwell with brutes beneath the midnight storm,


s: By Heaven's just vengeance changed in mind and form.


s: Crops the young floret and the bladed herb;


s: Lolls his red tongue, and from the reedy side


s: Long eagle-plumes his arching neck invest,


s: Dark brinded hairs in bristling ranks, behind,


s: Rise o'er his back, and rustle in the wind,


s: Clothe his lank sides, his shrivel'd limbs surround,


s: And human hands with talons print the ground.


s: Pursue their monarch as he crawls along;


s: E'en Beauty pleads in vain with smiles and tears,


s: Nor Flattery's self can pierce his pendant ears.


s: _Two_ Sister-Nymphs to Ganges' flowery brink


s: Wind through the dewy rice, and nodding canes,


s: (As _eight_ black Eunuchs guard the sacred plains),


s: With playful malice watch the scaly brood,


s: And shower the inebriate berries on the flood.--


s: Turn your bright eyes, and shun the dangerous bribes;


s: The tramel'd net with less destruction sweeps


s: Your curling shallows, and your azure deeps;


s: With less deceit, the gilded fly beneath,


s: --Dim your slow eyes, and dull your pearly coat,


s: Drunk on the waves your languid forms shall float,


s: And Herons and Otters seize you for their prey.--


s: In silent anguish sought the barren strand,


s: High on the shatter'd beech sublime He stood,


s: Still'd with his waving arm the babbling flood;


s: "To Man's dull ear," He cry'd, "I call in vain,


s: "Hear me, ye scaly tenants of the main!"--


s: In dusky mail the Tortoise climbs the rocks,


s: Torpedoes, Sharks, Rays, Porpus, Dolphins, pour


s: Their twinkling squadrons round the glittering shore;


s: And Whales and Grampi swell the distant tide.


s: Then kneel'd the hoary Seer, to heaven address'd


s: His fiery eyes, and smote his sounding breast;


s: "Bless ye the Lord!" with thundering voice he cry'd,


s: The winds and waters caught the sacred word,


s: And mingling echoes shouted "Bless the Lord!"


s: The listening shoals the quick contagion feel,


s: Pant on the floods, inebriate with their zeal,


s: And dash with frantic fins their foamy beds.


s: Sopha'd on silk, amid her charm-built towers,


s: Her meads of asphodel, and amaranth bowers,


s: Where Sleep and Silence guard the soft abodes,


s: Faint o'er her couch in scintillating streams


s: Pass the thin forms of Fancy and of Dreams;


s: Froze by inchantment on the velvet ground


s: Fair youths and beauteous ladies glitter round;


s: Bend the meek knee, and lift the imploring eye.


s: --And now the Sorceress bares her shrivel'd hand,


s: And circles thrice in air her ebon wand;


s: Flush'd with new life descending statues talk,


s: With deeper sobs reviving lovers breathe,


s: Fair bosoms rise, and soft hearts pant beneath;


s: With warmer lips relenting damsels speak,


s: And kindling blushes tinge the Parian cheek;


s: And hovering Loves are heard on rustling wing.


s: --She waves her wand again!--fresh horrors seize


s: Their stiffening limbs, their vital currents freeze;


s: By each cold nymph her marble lover lies,


s: From the dark regions of the imprison'd dead,


s: Or drove in silent shoals the lingering train


s: To Night's dull shore, and PLUTO'S dreary reign


s: The realms of Taste, and Fancy's fairy lands;


s: Calls up with magic voice the shapes, that sleep


s: In earth's dark bosom, or unfathom'd deep;


s: That shrined in air on viewless wings aspire,


s: As with nice touch her plaistic hand she moves,


s: Rise the fine forms of Beauties, Graces, Loves;


s: Kneel to the fair Inchantress, smile or sigh,


s: And fade or flourish, as she turns her eye.


s: Call'd her light choir, and trod the dewy lawn;


s: Hail'd with rude melody the new-born May,


s: "Light Graces dress'd in flowery wreaths


s: "Warm with new life the glittering throngs


s: In changeful rings, her sprightly troop She led;


s: PAN tripp'd before, where Eudness shades the mead,


s: And blew with glowing lip his sevenfold reed;


s: Emerging Naiads swell'd the jocund strain,


s: "I faint, I fall!"--_at noon_ the Beauty cried,


s: "Weep o'er my tomb, ye Nymphs!"--and sunk and died.


s: --Thus, when white Winter o'er the shivering clime


s: Drives the still snow, or showers the silver rime;


s: Prints his steep step, and guides his vagrant flocks;


s: Views the green holly veil'd in network nice,


s: Her vermil clusters twinkling in the ice;


s: Admires the lucid vales, and slumbering floods,


s: Transparent towns, with seas of milk between,


s: And eyes with transport the refulgent scene:--


s: If breaks the sunshine o'er the spangled trees,


s: Or flits on tepid wing the western breeze,


s: And all the glittering pageant melts in air.


s: Where Andes hides his cloud-wreath'd crest in snow,


s: And roots his base on burning sands below;


s: On Quito's temperate plain an altar rear'd,


s: Trill'd the loud hymn, the solemn prayer preferr'd:


s: Each balmy bud she cull'd, and honey'd flower,


s: And hung with fragrant wreaths the sacred bower;


s: And piled their treasures on the gorgeous shrine;


s: Her suppliant voice for sickening Loxa raised,


s: Sweet breath'd the gale, and bright the censor blazed.


s: While streaming o'er the night with baleful glare


s: Fierce from his fens the Giant AGUE springs,


s: And wrapp'd in fogs descends on vampire wings;


s: And Fever's burning nostril dogs his heels;


s: Loud claps the grinning Fiend his iron hands,


s: Stamps with his marble feet, and shouts along the lands;


s: Withers the damask cheek, unnerves the strong,


s: Oh, Goddess! on thy kneeling votaries bend


s: Thy angel-looks, oh, hear us, and defend!"


s: --HYGEIA, leaning from the blest abodes,


s: The crystal mansions of the immortal gods,


s: Spread her white arms, and breathe her fervid sighs;


s: Call'd to her fair associates, Youth, and Joy,


s: And shot all-radiant through the glittering sky;


s: Loose waved behind her golden train of hair,


s: O'er the grey matted moss, and pansied sod,


s: With step sublime the glowing Goddess trod,


s: Gilt with her beamy eye the conscious shade,


s: And with her smile celestial bless'd the maid.


s: "Thy vows are heard, benignant Nymph! arise;


s: Where yon aspiring trunks fantastic wreath


s: Their mingled roots, and drink the rill beneath,


s: Yield to the biting axe thy sacred wood,


s: In silent homage bow'd the blushing maid,--


s: _Five_ youths athletic hasten to her aid,


s: O'er the scar'd hills re-echoing strokes resound,


s: And headlong forests thunder on the ground.


s: From ocherous beds the swelling fountain flows;


s: With streams austere its winding margin laves,


s: And pours from vale to vale its dusky waves.


s: --As the pale squadrons, bending o'er the brink,


s: Slow-ebbing life with refluent crimson breaks


s: O'er their wan lips, and paints their haggard cheeks;


s: Through each fine nerve rekindling transports dart,


s: Light the quick eye, and swell the exulting heart.


s: Led to the sultry rock his murmuring bands.


s: Bright o'er his brows the forky radiance blazed,


s: And high in air the rod divine He raised.--


s: Wide yawns the cliff!--amid the thirsty throng


s: With gourds and shells and helmets press the bands,


s: Ope their parch'd lips, and spread their eager hands,


s: Snatch their pale infants to the exuberant shower,


s: Kneel on the shatter'd rock, and bless the Almighty Power.


s: Pale Dropsy rears his bloated form, and pants;


s: "Quench me, ye cool pellucid rills!" he cries,


s: Wets his parch'd tongue, and rolls his hollow eyes.


s: Again the rising stream his bosom laves,


s: And Thirst consumes him 'mid circumfluent waves.


s: Descending, listens to his piercing cry;


s: Her ruby cheek, white neck, and raven hair;


s: _Four_ youths protect her from the circling throng,


s: And like the Nymph the Goddess steps along.--


s: --O'er Him She waves her serpent-wreathed wand,


s: Warms with rekindling bloom his visage wan,


s: And charms the shapeless monster into man.


s: And withered Famine urged the work of death;


s: With food and faith, with medicine and with prayer,


s: Raised the weak head and stayed the parting sigh,


s: Or with new life relumed the swimming eye.--


s: Dart round the globe from Zembla to the Line;


s: O'er each dark prison plays the cheering light,


s: Like northern lustres o'er the vault of night.--


s: From realm to realm, with cross or crescent crown'd,


s: Thy HOWARD journeying seeks the house of woe.


s: Down many a winding step to dungeons dank,


s: Where anguish wails aloud, and fetters clank;


s: To caves bestrew'd with many a mouldering bone,


s: Where no kind bars a whispering friend disclose,


s: Profuse of toil, and prodigal of health;


s: Power's rigid heart, and opes his clenching hands;


s: Leads stern-ey'd Justice to the dark domains,


s: Or guides awaken'd Mercy through the gloom,


s: Gives to her babes the self-devoted wife,


s: --The Spirits of the Good, who bend from high


s: Wide o'er these earthly scenes their partial eye,


s: They saw her HOWARD traversing the globe;


s: Saw round his brows her sun-like Glory blaze


s: --Onward he moves!--Disease and Death retire,


s: And murmuring Demons hate him, and admire."


s: Here paused the Goddess,--on HYGEIA'S shrine


s: Obsequious Gnomes repose the lyre divine;


s: And catch the rain-drops on their shadowy wings.


s: With liquid crystal from her pebbly rills;


s: Piles the dry cedar round her silver urn,


s: Culls the green herb of China's envy'd bowers,


s: In gaudy cups the steamy treasure pours;


s: And, sweetly-smiling, on her bended knee


s: Presents the fragrant quintessence of Tea.


s: And now the Goddess founds her silver shell,


s: And shakes with deeper tones the inchanted dell;


s: Pale, round her grassy throne, bedew'd with tears,


s: Flit the thin forms of Sorrows, and of Fears;


s: And Indignations half-unsheath their swords.


s: "Thrice round the grave CIRCÆA prints her tread,


s: And chaunts the numbers, which disturb the dead;


s: Shakes o'er the holy earth her sable plume,


s: --Pale shoot the stars across the troubled night,


s: The timorous moon withholds her conscious light;


s: Shrill scream the famish'd bats, and shivering owls,


s: And loud and long the dog of midnight howls!--


s: --Then yawns the bursting ground!--_two_ imps obscene


s: Rise on broad wings, and hail the baleful queen;


s: Each with dire grin salutes the potent wand,


s: And leads the sorceress with his sooty hand;


s: Onward they glide, where sheds the sickly yew


s: The ponderous portals of the church unbar,--


s: Hoarse on their hinge the ponderous portals jar;


s: As through the colour'd glass the moon-beam falls,


s: Huge shapeless spectres quiver on the walls;


s: And to each step the pealing ailes resound;


s: By glimmering lamps, protecting saints among,


s: The shrines all tremble as they pass along,


s: O'er the still choir with hideous laugh they move,


s: Their impious march to God's high altar bend,


s: With feet impure the sacred steps ascend;


s: With wine unbless'd the holy chalice stain,


s: And to the cross with horrid mummery bow;


s: Avaunt, ye Vulgar! from her sacred groves


s: Full of the God her labouring bosom sighs,


s: Strong writhe her limbs, her wild dishevell'd hair


s: Starts from her laurel-wreath, and swims in air.--


s: Cinctur'd with ephods, and with garlands crown'd,


s: Contending hosts and trembling nations wait


s: --She speaks in thunder from her golden throne


s: So on his NIGHTMARE through the evening fog


s: Flits the squab Fiend o'er fen, and lake, and bog;


s: Seeks some love-wilder'd Maid with sleep oppress'd,


s: Alights, and grinning fits upon her breast.


s: Whose daring tints, with SHAKESPEAR'S happiest grace,


s: Gave to the airy phantom form and place.--


s: Back o'er her pillow sinks her blushing head,


s: While with quick sighs, and suffocative breath,


s: Her interrupted heart-pulse swims in death.


s: --Then shrieks of captured towns, and widows' tears,


s: Pale lovers stretch'd upon their blood-stain'd biers,


s: The trackless desert, the cold starless night,


s: And stern-eye'd Murder with his knife behind,


s: O'er her fair limbs convulsive tremors fleet,


s: In vain to scream with quivering lips she tries,


s: And strains in palsy'd lids her tremulous eyes;


s: In vain she _wills_ to run, fly, swim, walk, creep;


s: The WILL presides not in the bower of SLEEP.


s: Rolls in their marble orbs his Gorgon-eyes,


s: And drinks with leathern ears her tender cries.


s: Arm'd with her ivory beak, and talon-hands,


s: Chamber'd in earth with cold oblivion lies;


s: Nor heeds, _ye Suitor-train_, your amorous sighs;


s: Mounts into air, and moves her leafy plumes.


s: With lucid lines the dusky Moor divides,


s: Hurrying to intermix their sister tides.


s: Where still their silver-bosom'd Nymphs abhor,


s: --Erst, fires volcanic in the marble womb


s: Of cloud-wrapp'd WETTON raised the massy dome;


s: Rocks rear'd on rocks in huge disjointed piles


s: Form the tall turrets, and the lengthen'd ailes;


s: Branch the vast rain-bow ribs from side to side.


s: While from above descends in milky streams


s: Suspended crags and gaping gulphs illumes,


s: --Here oft the Naiads, as they chanced to play


s: Near the dread Fane on THOR'S returning day,


s: Saw from red altars streams of guiltless blood


s: Stain their green reed-beds, and pollute their flood;


s: And shrieks of matrons thrill the affrighted Gale;


s: While from dark caves infernal Echoes mock,


s: And Fiends triumphant shout from every rock!


s: ---So still the Nymphs emerging lift in air


s: Sail with sweet grace the dimpling streams along,


s: Listening the Shepherd's or the Miner's song;


s: But, when afar they view the giant-cave,


s: On timorous fins they circle on the wave,


s: Plunge their fair forms, and dive beneath the soil.--


s: Closed round their heads reluctant eddies sink,


s: And wider rings successive dash the brink.--


s: Three thousand steps in sparry clefts they stray,


s: Or sigh o'er jasper fish, and agate shells.


s: Till, where famed ILAM leads his boiling floods


s: Through flowery meadows and impending woods,


s: And 'mid circumfluent surges rise to light;


s: Shake their bright locks, the widening vale pursue,


s: Their sea-green mantles fringed with pearly dew;


s: In playful groups by towering THORP they move,


s: With fierce distracted eye IMPATIENS stands,


s: Swells her pale cheeks, and brandishes her hands,


s: With rage and hate the astonish'd groves alarms,


s: And hurls her infants from her frantic arms.


s: Her weeping sire and beckoning friends withstood,


s: And launch'd enamour'd on the boiling flood;


s: While high in air the golden treasure burns,


s: And Love and Glory guide the prow by turns.


s: But, when Thessalia's inauspicious plain


s: Received the matron-heroine from the main;


s: And shouting nations hail their Chief's return:


s: Aghaft, She saw new-deck'd the nuptial bed,


s: Saw her dear babes from fame and empire torn,


s: Her love rejected, and her vengeance braved,


s: By Him her beauties won, her virtues saved.--


s: And felt, Ingratitude! thy keenest sting;


s: "Nor Heaven," She cried, "nor Earth, nor Hell can hold


s: "A Heart abandon'd to the thirst of Gold!"


s: Stamp'd with wild foot, and shook her horrent brow,


s: --Slow out of earth, before the festive crowds,


s: On wheels of fire, amid a night of clouds,


s: Drawn by fierce fiends arose a magic car,


s: Received the Queen, and hovering flamed in air.--


s: And fear the vengeance they deserve to feel,


s: Thrice with parch'd lips her guiltless babes she press'd,


s: And thrice she clasp'd them to her tortur'd breast;


s: Awhile with white uplifted eyes she stood,


s: "Go, kiss your sire! go, share the bridal mirth!"


s: She cry'd, and hurl'd their quivering limbs on earth.


s: Rebellowing thunders rock the marble towers,


s: And red-tongued lightnings shoot their arrowy showers;


s: Death with black hands extends his mighty Pall;


s: Their mingling gore the Fiends of Vengeance quaff,


s: And Hell receives them with convulsive laugh.


s: Round the vex'd isles where fierce tornados roar,


s: What time the eve her gauze pellucid spreads


s: O'er the dim flowers, and veils the misty meads;


s: Slow, o'er the twilight sands or leafy walks,


s: Plays the light gas, or kindles into flame.


s: Brews her black hebenon, and, stealing near,


s: Wide o'er the mad'ning throng URTICA flings


s: Her barbed shafts, and darts her poison'd stings.


s: and were supposed to be indued with supernatural powers for this


s: Loads the dank pinion of the gale with death.--


s: Yet own with tender care their _kindred Loves!_--


s: So, where PALMIRA 'mid her wasted plains,


s: Her shatter'd aqueducts, and prostrate sanes,


s: (As the bright orb of breezy midnight pours


s: O'er mouldering tombs, and tottering columns gleams,


s: And frosts her deserts with diffusive beams),


s: Sad o'er the mighty wreck in silence bends,


s: Lifts her wet eyes, her tremulous hands extends.--


s: Its transient course, and sinks into the sands;


s: O'er the moist rock the fell Hyæna prowls,


s: The Leopard hisses, and the Panther growls;


s: On quivering wing the famish'd Vulture screams,


s: With foamy jaws, beneath, and sanguine tongue,


s: Laps the lean Wolf, and pants, and runs along;


s: Stern stalks the Lion, on the rustling brinks


s: Hears the dread Snake, and trembles as he drinks;


s: And, bending o'er the lake his crested brow,


s: Starts at the Crocodile, that gapes below.


s: Where seas of glass with gay reflections smile


s: A spacious plain extends its upland scene,


s: Rocks rise on rocks, and fountains gush between;


s: Soft zephyrs blow, eternal summers reign,


s: And showers prolific bless the soil,--in vain!


s: Nor towering plaintain shades the mid-day vales;


s: No flowery chaplet crowns the trickling rills;


s: Nor tufted moss, nor leathery lichen creeps


s: --No step retreating, on the sand impress'd,


s: No refluent fin the unpeopled stream divides,


s: No revolant pinion cleaves the airy tides;


s: That mining pass the irremeable bourn.--


s: Fierce in dread silence on the blasted heath


s: Fell UPAS sits, the HYDRA-TREE of death.


s: Lo! from one root, the envenom'd soil below,


s: In shining rays the scaly monster spreads


s: O'er ten square leagues his far-diverging heads;


s: Or in one trunk entwists his tangled form,


s: Looks o'er the clouds, and hisses in the storm.


s: A thousand tongues in quick vibration dart;


s: Snatch the proud Eagle towering o'er the heath,


s: Or pounce the Lion, as he stalks beneath;


s: Or strew, as marshall'd hosts contend in vain,


s: --Chain'd at his root two scion-demons dwell,


s: Breathe the faint hiss, or try the shriller yell;


s: Rise, fluttering in the air on callow wings,


s: And aim at insect-prey their little stings.


s: Art's cumberous works, and empires, from their base;


s: While each young Hour its sickle fine employs,


s: And crops the sweet buds of domestic joys!


s: With blushes bright as morn fair ORCHIS charms,


s: Soft play _Affection_ round her bosom's throne,


s: And guards his life, forgetful of her own.


s: So wings the wounded Deer her headlong flight,


s: Pierced by some ambush'd archer of the night,


s: And drops of blood bedew the conscious lawn;


s: There hid in shades she shuns the cheerful day,


s: Hangs o'er her young, and weeps her life away.


s: So stood Eliza on the wood-crown'd height,


s: Sought with bold eye amid the bloody strife


s: Her dearer self, the partner of her life;


s: From hill to hill the rushing host pursued,


s: And view'd his banner, or believed she view'd.


s: Fast by his hand one lisping boy she led;


s: Slept on her kerchief, cradled by her arm;


s: While round her brows bright beams of Honour dart,


s: --Near and more near the intrepid Beauty press'd,


s: Saw through the driving smoke his dancing crest,


s: Heard the exulting shout, "they run! they run!"


s: "Great GOD!" she cried, "He's safe! the battle's won!"


s: (Some Fury wing'd it, and some Demon guides!)


s: Parts the fine locks, her graceful head that deck,


s: Wounds her fair ear, and sinks into her neck;


s: The red stream, issuing from her azure veins,


s: --"Ah me!" she cried, and, sinking on the ground,


s: Kiss'd her dear babes, regardless of the wound;


s: "Oh, cease not yet to beat, thou Vital Urn!


s: "Wait, gushing Life, oh, wait my Love's return!--


s: "The angel, Pity, shuns the walks of war!----


s: "Oh, spare ye War-hounds, spare their tender age!--


s: "On me, on me," she cried, "exhaust your rage!"--


s: Then with weak arms her weeping babes caress'd,


s: From tent to tent the impatient warrior flies,


s: Fear in his heart, and frenzy in his eyes;


s: O'er groaning heaps, the dying and the dead,


s: Vault o'er the plain, and in the tangled wood,


s: Lo! dead Eliza weltering in her blood!--


s: --Soon hears his listening son the welcome sounds,


s: "Speak low," he cries, and gives his little hand,


s: "Poor weeping Babe with bloody fingers press'd,


s: "And tried with pouting lips her milkless breast;


s: "Why do you weep?--Mama will soon awake."


s: --"She'll wake no more!" the hopeless mourner cried


s: Upturn'd his eyes, and clasp'd his hands, and sigh'd;


s: Stretch'd on the ground awhile entranc'd he lay,


s: And then unsprung with wild convulsive start,


s: And all the Father kindled in his heart;


s: "Oh, Heavens!" he cried, "my first rash vow forgive!


s: "These bind to earth, for these I pray to live!"--


s: And clasp'd them sobbing to his aching breast.


s: _Two_ Harlot-Nymphs, the fair CUSCUTAS, please


s: With labour'd negligence, and studied ease;


s: In the meek garb of modest worth disguised,


s: With sly approach they spread their dangerous charms,


s: And round their victim wind their wiry arms.


s: Where Troy's proud turrets glitter'd in the flood,


s: To shrinking realms announced her fatal fall;


s: Whirl'd his fierce spear with more than mortal force,


s: And pierced the thick ribs of the echoing horse;


s: Two Serpent-forms incumbent on the main,


s: Arch'd their blue necks, and (hook their towering crests,


s: And plough'd their foamy way with speckled breasts;


s: Then darting fierce amid the affrighted throngs,


s: Roll'd their red eyes, and shot their forked tongues,--


s: Thwart their dread progress, and provoke their ire.


s: Round sire and sons the scaly monsters roll'd,


s: Ring above ring, in many a tangled fold,


s: Close and more close their writhing limbs surround,


s: --With brow upturn'd to heaven the holy Sage


s: While each fond Youth, in vain, with piercing cries


s: Bends on the tortured Sire his dying eyes.


s: The maudlin tear-drop glittering in her eyes;


s: Green leaves and purple clusters crown her head,


s: And the tall Thyrsus stays her tottering tread.


s: --_Five_ hapless swains with soft assuasive smiles


s: "Drink deep," she carols, as she waves in air


s: The mantling goblet, "and forget your care."--


s: O'er the dread feast malignant Chemia scowls,


s: And mingles poison in the nectar'd bowls;


s: Wrapp'd in his robe white Lepra hides his stains,


s: And silent Frenzy writhing bites his chains.


s: So when PROMETHEUS braved the Thunderer's ire,


s: And, lantern'd in his breast, from realms of day


s: Bore the bright treasure to his Man of clay;--


s: The lean impatient Vulture fluttering round,


s: To break or loose the adamantine chains.


s: The gluttonous bird, exulting in his pangs,


s: Tears his swoln liver with remorseless fangs.


s: And, bending low to earth, with pious hands


s: "Sweet Nursling! withering in thy tender hour,


s: "Oh, sleep," She cries, "and rise a fairer flower!"


s: Shook her dank wing, and steer'd her murky clouds;


s: When o'er the friendless bier no rites were read,


s: No dirge slow-chanted, and no pall out-spread;


s: While Death and Night piled up the naked throng,


s: Six lovely daughters, and their father, swept


s: To the throng'd grave CLEONE saw, and wept;


s: Her tender mind, with meek Religion fraught,


s: Drank all-resigned Affliction's bitter draught;


s: Of others' woes, unconscious of her own!--


s: One smiling boy, her last sweet hope, she warms


s: Hushed on her bosom, circled in her arms,--


s: Daughter of woe! ere morn, in vain caress'd,


s: With feeble cries thy last sad aid required,


s: Stretch'd its stiff limbs, and on thy lap expired!--


s: --Long with wide eye-lids on her Child she gazed,


s: And long to heaven their tearless orbs she raised;


s: Where Chartreuse open'd deep his holy ground;


s: Bore her last treasure through the midnight gloom,


s: And kneeling dropp'd it in the mighty tomb;


s: "I follow next!" the frantic mourner said,


s: Where vast Ontario rolls his brineless tides,


s: And feeds the trackless forests on his sides,


s: Fair CASSIA trembling hears the howling woods,


s: And trusts her tawny children to the floods.--


s: Thus a rapid current passes from the gulf of Florida to the N.E.


s: And guard the beauty on her native land,


s: Soft breathes the gale, the current gently moves,


s: And bears to Norway's coasts her infant-loves.


s: --So the sad mother at the noon of night


s: Wrapp'd her dear babe beneath her folded vest,


s: And clasp'd the treasure to her throbbing breast,


s: With soothing whispers hushed its feeble cry,


s: Pressed the soft kiss, and breathed the secret sigh.--


s: Hears unappall'd the glimmering torrents roar;


s: With Paper-flags a floating cradle weaves,


s: And hides the smiling boy in Lotus-leaves;


s: Gives her white bosom to his eager lips,


s: Waits on the reed-crown'd brink with pious guile,


s: And trusts the scaly monsters of the Nile.--


s: --Erewhile majestic from his lone abode,


s: And broke, curst Slavery! thy iron bands.


s: Which shook the waves and rent the sky!--


s: E'en now, e'en now, on yonder Western shores


s: E'en now in Afric's groves with hideous yell


s: Fierce SLAVERY stalks, and slips the dogs of hell;


s: From vale to vale the gathering cries rebound,


s: And sable nations tremble at the sound!--


s: Britannia's realms, whom either Ind obeys;


s: Who right the injured, and reward the brave,


s: Stretch your strong arm, for ye have power to save!


s: Throned in the vaulted heart, his dread resort,


s: With still small voice the plots of Guilt alarms,


s: Bares his mask'd brow, his lifted hand disarms;


s: But, wrapp'd in night with terrors all his own,


s: He speaks in thunder, when the deed is done.


s: No radiant pearl, which crested Fortune wears,


s: No gem, that twinkling hangs from Beauty's ears,


s: Not the bright stars, which Night's blue arch adorn,


s: Shine with such lustre as the tear, that breaks


s: For other's woe down Virtue's manly cheeks."


s: Here ceased the MUSE, and dropp'd her tuneful shell,


s: Tumultuous woes her panting bosom swell,


s: Folds her white arms, and bends her laurel'd brows;


s: For human guilt awhile the Goddess sighs,


s: When we have laugh'd to see the sails conceive,


s: And grow big-bellied with the wanton wind;


s: Which she with pretty and with swimming gate,


s: Following her womb, (then rich with my young squire),


s: _3_  Soft-warbling beaks ¦ in each bright blos ¦ som move,


s: _3_ Life buds or breathes ¦ from Indus to ¦ the poles,


s: _2_  Yet ¦ if one may guess by the ¦ size of his calf, Sir,


s: _2_  Master ¦ Mamozet's head was not ¦ finished so soon,


s: The first and second bars consist each of a crotchet, a quaver, a


s: Newton's Optics, Book I. part 2. prop. 3 and 6. Dr. Smith, in his


s: Pale Melancholy sits, and round _her_ throws


s: A death-like silence, and a dread repose.


s: But round the steepy rocks and dangerous strand


s: Rolls the white surf, and SHIPWRECK guards the land.


s: Now the broad Sun his golden orb unshrouds,


s: Flames in the west, and paints the parted clouds;


s: O'er heaven's wide arch refracted lustres flow,


s: And bend in air the many-colour'd bow.--


s: Fix'd in mute extacy her glistening eye;


s: And then her lute to sweeter tones she strung,


s: And swell'd with softer chords the Paphian song.


s: Long ailes of Oaks return'd the silver sound,


s: Pleas'd Lichfield listen'd from her sacred bowers,


s: Bow'd her tall groves, and shook her stately towers.


s: "Nymph! not for thee the radiant day returns,


s: Nymph! not for thee the golden solstice burns,


s: She seeks with pensive step the mountain-bower,


s: Bright as the blush of rising morn, and warms


s: The dull cold eye of Midnight with her charms.


s: There to the skies she lifts her pencill'd brows,


s: Eyes the white zenyth; counts the suns, that roll


s: Their distant fires, and blaze around the Pole;


s: Or marks where Jove directs his glittering car


s: O'er Heaven's blue vault,--Herself a brighter star.


s: Thy snowy neck, and part thy shadowy hairs,


s: Sweet Maid of Night! to Cynthia's sober beams


s: Glows thy warm cheek, thy polish'd bosom gleams.


s: _In crowds_ around thee gaze the admiring swains,


s: Drop the still tear, or breathe the impassion'd sigh,


s: And drink inebriate rapture from thine eye.


s: Thus, when old Needwood's hoary scenes the Night


s: Paints with blue shadow, and with milky light;


s: Loud to the echoing vales his parting song;


s: With measured step the Fairy Sovereign treads,


s: Shakes her high plume, and glitters o'er the meads;


s: Round each green holly leads her sportive train,


s: Each haunted rill with silver voices rings,


s: And Night's sweet bird in livelier accents sings.


s: Ere the bright star, which leads the morning sky,


s: Hangs o'er the blushing east his diamond eye,


s: A saint-like glory trembles round her head;


s: _Eight_ watchful swains along the lawns of night


s: With amorous steps pursue the virgin light;


s: O'er her fair form the electric lustre plays,


s: So shines the glow-fly, when the sun retires,


s: And gems the night-air with phosphoric fires;


s: Thus o'er the marsh aërial lights betray,


s: And charm the unwary wanderer from his way.


s: Rear'd a vast pyre before the golden shrine


s: Of sulphurous coal, and pitch-exsuding pine;--


s: --Loud roar the flames, the iron nostrils breathe,


s: Bright and more bright the blazing deluge flows,


s: And white with seven-fold heat the furnace glows.


s: And now the Monarch fix'd with dread surprize


s: Deep in the burning vault his dazzled eyes.


s: Unscorch'd their sandals, and unsing'd their hair!


s: And now a fourth with seraph-beauty bright


s: Descends, accosts them, and outshines the light!


s: Fierce flames innocuous, as they step, retire!


s: He spoke,--to Heaven his arms repentant spread,


s: And kneeling bow'd his gem-incircled head.


s: _Two_ Sister-Nymphs, the fair AVENAS, lead


s: Their fleecy squadrons on the lawns of Tweed;


s: And wake his Echoes with their silver tongue;


s: Or touch the reed, as gentle Love inspires,


s: In notes accordant to their chaste desires.


s: "Where this high arch o'erhangs the dell;


s: "While Tweed with sun-reflecting streams


s: "Chequers thy rocks with dancing beams?--


s: While Night's sweet bird, from yon high spray


s: The Swans pursuing cleave the glassy deep,


s: On hovering wings the wondering Reed-larks play,


s: And silent Bitterns listen to the lay.--


s: _Three_ shepherd-swains beneath the beechen shades


s: On each smooth bark the mystic love-knot frame,


s: Or on white sands inscribe the favour'd name.


s: From Time's remotest dawn where China brings


s: In proud succession all her Patriot-Kings;


s: Extends her massy wall from clime to clime;


s: With bells and dragons crests her Pagod-bowers,


s: Her silken palaces, and porcelain towers;


s: With long canals a thousand nations laves;


s: Slow treads fair CANNABIS the breezy strand,


s: The distaff streams dishevell'd in her hand;


s: Now to the left her ivory neck inclines,


s: And leads in Paphian curves its azure lines;


s: And the fair ear the parting locks disclose;


s: Now to the right with airy sweep she bends,


s: Quick join the threads, the dancing spole depends.


s: --_Five_ Swains attracted guard the Nymph, by turns


s: To each She bows with sweet assuasive smile,


s: Hears his soft vows, and turns her spole the while.


s: So when with light and shade, concordant strife!


s: Stern CLOTHO weaves the chequer'd thread of life;


s: The cradle and the coffin bound its ends;


s: Soft cords of silk the whirling spoles reveal,


s: If smiling Fortune turn the giddy wheel;


s: But if sweet Love with baby-fingers twines,


s: Skein after skein celestial tints unfold,


s: And all the silken tissue shines with gold.


s: Warm with sweet blushes bright GALANTHA glows,


s: And prints with frolic step the melting snows;


s: _Six_ rival swains the playful beauty leads,


s: Bids slumbering Zephyr stretch his folded wing,


s: Wakes the hoarse Cuckoo in his gloomy cave,


s: Bids the mute Redbreast cheer the budding grove,


s: And plaintive Ringdove tune her notes to love.


s: Spring! with thy own sweet smile, and tuneful tongue,


s: Delighted BELLIS calls her infant throng.


s: Watch her kind looks, and circle o'er the plain;


s: Now with young wonder touch the siding snail,


s: Admire his eye-tipp'd horns, and painted mail;


s: Chase with quick step, and eager arms outspread,


s: Or twine green oziers with the fragrant gale,


s: The azure harebel, and the primrose pale,


s: Join hand in hand, and in procession gay


s: Adorn with votive wreaths the shrine of May.


s: And leads her gold-hair'd family of Loves.


s: These, from the flaming furnace, strong and bold


s: Pour the red steel into the sandy mould;


s: On tinkling anvils (with Vulcanian art),


s: The barbed head on whirling jaspers grind,


s: And dip the point in poison for the mind;


s: Each polish'd shaft with snow-white plumage wing,


s: Or strain the bow reluctant to its string.


s: Or stretch from bough to bough the flowery bands;


s: Scare the dark beetle, as he wheels on high,


s: Call the young Zephyrs to their fragrant bowers,


s: Where, as proud Maffon rises rude and bleak,


s: And with mishapen turrets crests the Peak,


s: Old Matlock gapes with marble jaws, beneath,


s: And o'er fear'd Derwent bends his flinty teeth;


s: Blue sulphurs flame, imprison'd waters boil.


s: Through rifted rocks, impatient for the skies;


s: Or o'er bright seas of bubbling lavas blow,


s: Condensed on high, in wandering rills they glide


s: From Maffon's dome, and burst his sparry side;


s: Round his grey towers, and down his fringed walls,


s: From cliff to cliff, the liquid treasure falls;


s: O'er corals, shells, and crystals, winds along;


s: Crusts the green mosses, and the tangled wood,


s: And sparkling plunges to its parent flood.


s: --O'er the warm wave a smiling youth presides,


s: (The blooming FUCUS), in her sparry coves


s: To amorous Echo sings his _secret_ loves,


s: Bathes his fair forehead in the misty stream,


s: And with sweet breath perfumes the rising steam.


s: Each morn descending, shook his dewy wings;


s: And as his bright translucent form He laves,


s: Salubrious powers enrich the troubled waves.


s: Amphibious Nymph, from Nile's prolific bed


s: Fair glows her virgin cheek and modest breast,