Of filence, through the empty-vaulted night, every fall smoothing the raven down

At

Of darkness till it fmil'd! I have oft heard

My mother Circe with the Syrens three,
Amidst the flowery-kirtled Naiades

Culling their potent herbs, and baleful drugs,

255

Who as they fung, would take the prifon'd foul,
And lap it in Elyfium; Scylla wept,

And chid her barking waves into attention,

And fell Charybdis murmur'd soft applause:

Yet they in pleafing flumber lull'd the fenfe,
And in fweet madness robb'd it of itself;
But fuch a facred, and home-felt delight,
Such fober certainty of waking blifs,

I never heard till now. I'll speak to her,

260

And the shall be my queen. Hail, foreign wonder, 265 Whom certain these rough fhades did never breed,

Unless the Goddefs that in rural fhrine

Dwell'ft here with Pan, or Sylvan, by bleft song

Forbidding every bleak unkindly fog

To touch the profperous growth of this tall wood. 270
LA. Nay, gentle Shepherd, ill is loft that praise
That is addrefs'd to unattending ears;

Not any boast of skill, but extreme shift
How to regain my fever'd company,
Compell'd me to awake the courteous Echo

To give me anfwer from her moffy couch.

275

[thus?

COM. What chance, good Lady, hath bereft you LA. Dim darkness, and this leafy labyrinth.

COM.

COM. Could that divide you from near-ufhering

guides?

LA. They left me weary on a graffy turf.

280

COм. By falfhood, or difcourtesy, or why?
LA. To feek i'th' valley fome cool friendly fpring.
COм. And left your fair fide all unguarded, Lady?
LẠ, They were but twain, and purpos'd quick re-

turn.

COм. Perhaps fore-ftalling night prevented them. LA. How cafy my misfortune is to hit!

COM. Imports their lofs, befide the prefent need? LA. No less than if I should my Brothers lofe. COм. Were they of manly prime, or youthful

bloom?

LA. As fmooth as Hebe's their unrazor'd lips. 290 COM. Two fuch I faw, what time the labor'd ox In his loofe traces from the furrow came, And the fwinkt hedger at his fupper fat; I faw them under a green mantling vine That crawls along the fide of yon small hill, Plucking ripe clusters from the tender shoots; Their port was more than human, as they stood: I took it for a faëry vision

Of fome gay creatures of the element,

That in the colors of the rainbow live,.

And play i'th' plighted clouds. I was aw-ftruck,
And as I pat, I worshipt; if those you feek,
It were a journey like the path to Heaven,

295

300

What readiest way would bring me to that place? 305 COM. Due weft it rifes from this fhrubby point.

LA. To find out that, good Shepherd, I suppose,

In fuch a fcant allowance of star-light,

Would overtask the best land-pilot's art,

Without the fure guess of well-practis'd feet.

COM. I know each lane, and every alley green,

Dingle, or bushy dell of this wild wood,

And every bofky bourn from fide to fide,
My daily walks and ancient neighbourhood;
And if your stray-attendence be yet lodg'd,
Or fhroud within these limits, I shall know
Ere morrow wake, or the low-roofted lark
From her thatcht pallat roufe; if otherwise,
I can conduct you, Lady, to a low

310

315

But loyal cottage, where you may be safe
Till further quest.

320

LA. Shepherd, I take thy word,

And trust thy honeft offer'd courtesy,

Which oft is fooner found in lowly sheds

With smoky rafters, than in tap'stry halls

And courts of princes, where it first was nam'd,

325

And yet is most pretended: In a place
Lefs warranted than this, or lefs fecure,

I cannot be, that I should fear to change it.
Eye me, bleft Providence, and square my

trial

To my proportion'd ftrength! Shepherd, lead on.

The two BROTHERS.

330

I BRO. Unmuffle, ye faint Stars, and thou fair Moon,

That wont'ft to love the traveller's benizon,

Stoop

Stoop thy pale vifage through an amber cloud,
And difinherit Chaos, that reigns here
In double night of darkness and of shades;
Or if your influence be quite damm'd up
With black ufurping mists, fome gentle taper,
Though a rush-candle from the wicker hole
Of fome clay habitation, visit us

With thy long level'd rule of streaming light,
And thou shalt be our ftar of Arcady,
Or Tyrian Cynofure.

2 BRO. Or if our eyes

Be barr'd that happiness, might we but hear
The folded flocks penn'd in their watled cotes,
Or found of paftoral reed with oaten stops,
Or whistle from the lodge, or village cock
Count the night watches to his feathery dames,
'Twould be fome folace yet, fome little chearing
In this close dungeon of innumerous boughs.
But O that hapless virgin, our lost Sister,

335

340

345

350

Where may she wander now, whither betake her
From the chill dew, amongst rude burs and thistles?
Perhaps fome cold bank is her bolster now,

Or 'gainst the rugged bark of fome broad elm
Leans her unpillow'd head fraught with fad fears. 355
What if in wild amazement, and affright,

Or, while we speak, within the direful grasp
Of favage hunger, or of favage heat?

I BRO. Peace, Brother, be not over-exquisite

To caft the fashion of uncertain evils :
For grant they be fo, while they reft unknown,

K 3

360

What

What need a man forestall his date of grief,
And run to meet what he would moft avoid?
Or if they be but falfe alarms of fear,
How bitter is fuch felf-delufion!

I do not think my Sister so to feek,

Or fo unprincipled in virtue's book,

365

And the sweet peace that goodness bofoms ever,
As that the fingle want of light and noise

(Not being in danger, as I trust she is not)

370

Could ftir the constant mood of her calm thoughts,
And put them into mif-becoming plight.

Virtue could fee to do what virtue would

By her own radiant light, though fun and moon
Were in the flat fea funk. And wifdom's felf
Oft feeks to fweet retir'd folitude,

375

Where with her beft nurse contemplation

She plumes her feathers, and lets grow her wings,
That in the various bustle of refort

Were all too ruffled, and fometimes impair'd.
He that has light within his own clear breast

380

May fit i'th' center, and enjoy bright day:
But he that hides a dark foul, and foul thoughts,
Benighted walks under the mid-day sun;

Himfelf is his own dungeon.

2 BRO. 'Tis most true,

That mufing meditation most affects

The penfive fecrecy of defert cell,

385

Far from the chearful haunt of men and herds,

And fits as fafe as in a fenate house;

For who would rob a hermit of his weeds,

390

His