He said:- 6 O! were I made by some transforming power 45 And I those kisses he receives enjoy. And yet my numbers please the rural throng; Rough satyrs dance, and Pan applauds the song: 50 The nymphs, forsaking every cave and spring, 'See what delights in sylvan scenes appear! 41 Alexis, take this pipe. Est mihi disparibus septem.-Virg. 60 42 Rosalinda's. This is the lady with whom Spenser fell violently in love, as soon as he left Cambridge, and went into the north; it is uncertain into what family, and in what capacity. Warton. The name is said to be an anagram. 60 Descending gods. Habitarunt Di quoque sylvas.-Virg. Come, lovely nymph, and bless the silent hours, When swains from shearing seek their nightly bowers; When weary reapers quit the sultry field, 65 And crown'd with corn their thanks to Ceres yield. 70 This harmless grove no lurking viper hides, 75 80 And all things florish where you turn your eyes. 79 Your praise the birds. Pope had first written the lines,Your praise the tuneful birds to heaven shall bear, And listening wolves grow milder as they hear : but he acknowleges this to have been an oversight; the author, young as he was, soon found the absurdity, which ' and Spenser himself had overlooked, of introducing wolves into England.' 'But, see, the shepherds shun the noonday heat; The lowing herds to murmuring brooks retreat; To closer shades the panting flocks remove: Ye gods! and is there no relief for love? But soon the sun with milder rays descends To the cool ocean, where his journey ends. On me love's fiercer flames for ever prey; By night he scorches, as he burns by day.' 85 90 90 AUTUMN: THE THIRD PASTORAL,* OR HYLAS AND EGON. TO MR. WYCHERLEY. BENEATH the shade a spreading beech displays, This mourn'd a faithless, that an absent love, 6 Thou, whom the Nine with Plautus' wit inspire, The art of Terence, and Menander's fire; * This pastoral consists of two parts, like the eighth of Virgil: the scene, a hill; the time, sunset. 8The art of Terence, and Menander's fire. Alluding,' says Warburton, 'to Cæsar's character of Terence, -O dimidiate Menander!' &c. a sufficiently qualified panegyric of the Roman comedian; but that any allusion was intended is by no means clear. It is curious to find modern criticism dilating on the comic power' of Terence, which the character so distinctly denies : Lenibus atque utinam scriptis adjuncta foret vis Whose sense instructs us, and whose humor charms, Whose judgment sways us, and whose spirit warms! O, skill'd in nature! see the hearts of swains, 10 Now setting Phoebus shone serenely bright, And fleecy clouds were streak'd with purple light; 15 When tuneful Hylas, with melodious moan, Taught rocks to weep, and made the mountains groan. 'Go, gentle gales, and bear my sighs away! To Delia's ear the tender notes convey. As some sad turtle his lost love deplores, 21 'Go, gentle gales, and bear my sighs along! For her, the feather'd quires neglect their song; For her, the limes their pleasing shades deny; 25 For her, the lilies hang their heads and die. Ye flowers, that droop, forsaken by the spring; Ye birds, that, left by summer, cease to sing; Ye trees, that fade when autumn heats remove ;Say, is not absence death to those who love? 30 'Go, gentle gales, and bear my sighs away! Cursed be the fields that cause my Delia's stay; Fade every blossom, wither every tree, Die every flower, and perish all, but she. What have I said? where'er my Delia flies, 35 Let spring attend, and sudden flowers arise; |