And early, ere the odorous breath of morn With puissant words, and murmurs made to bless; That sit upon the nine infolded spheres, And keep unsteady Nature to her law, And the low world in measur'd motion draw 65 70 75 78 gross] Compare Shakesp. Merchant of Venice, act v. BC. 1. 'There's not the smallest orb which thou behold'st, Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubins: Doth grossly close us in, we cannot hear it.' Shakesp. Mid. N. D. act iii. sc. 1. 'And I will purge thy mortal grossness so,' &c. Warton. Whose lustre leads us, and fof her most fit, Whate'er the skill of lesser Gods can show,. 80 SONG II. O'ER the smooth enamell'd green, And touch the warbled string, Under the shady roof Of branching elm star-proof. Follow me, I will bring you where she sits, Her deity. Such a rural Queen All Arcadia hath not seen. SONG III. NYMPHS and Shepherds dance no more 85 90 89 star] 'Sun-proof arbours.' Sylvester's Du Bartas, 171, and G. Peele's David and Bethsabe, 1599. 'This shade, sun-proof, is yet no proof for thee.' Warton and Todd. By sandy Ladon's lilied banks; On old Lycæus or Cyllene hoar Trip no more in twilight ranks ; Though Erymanth your loss deplore, A better soil shall give ye thanks. Bring your flocks, and live with us, To serve the Lady of this place. Though Syrinx your Pan's mistress were, Such a rural Queen All Arcadia hath not seen. 100 105 97 By sandy Ladon's lilied banks] Giles Fletcher's Christ's Victorie and Triumph, 1632. 'To Ladon sands.' p. 14, and 'On either side bank't with a lily wall,' p. 49. A. Dyce. 97 sandy] Browne's Brit. Past. ii. st. iv. p. 107. 'The silver Ladon on his sandy shore.' MISCELLANEOUS POEMS. ANNO ETATIS 17. ON THE DEATH OF A FAIR INFANT, DYING OF A COUGH. I. O FAIREST flower, no sooner blown but blasted, Soft silken primrose fading timelessly, Summer's chief honour, if thou hadst out-lasted. Bleak Winter's force that made thy blossom dry; For he being amorous on that lovely dye That did thy cheek envermeil, thought to kiss, But kill'd, alas, and then bewail'd his fatal bliss. II. For since grim Aquilo his charioteer By boisterous rape th' Athenian damsel got, 1 0] Shakespeare's Passionate Pilgrim. 'Swet Rose, fair flower, untimely pluckt, soon vaded, Fair Creature, kild too soone by Death's sharpe sting.' 5 10 kiss] Shakesp. Venus and Adonis, 'He thought to kiss him, and hath kill'd him so.' Todd. Newton. If likewise he some fair one wedded not, III. So mounting up in icy-pearled car, 15 Through middle empire of the freezing air But all unwares with his cold-kind embrace 20 Unhous'd thy virgin soul from her fair biding place. IV. Yet art thou not inglorious in thy fate; 26 But then transform'd him to a purple flower: Alack, that so to change thee Winter had no power! V. Yet can I not persuade me thou art dead, 12 infamous] The common accentuation of our elder poetry Drummond's Urania, 1616, 'On this infamous stage of woe to die.' Todd. |