,,Ah! now it does, my drooping heart rejoice, When in the hall I hear thy mellow voice! ,,How would that voice exceed the village bell, Would thou but sing:,,I like thee passing well!" When from the hearth she bade the pointers go, Get out", she cry'd,,, when strangers come to sup, ,,Then, full of wrath, she kick'd each lazy brute; Alas! I envy'd even that salute: ,,'Twas sure misplac'd Shock said, or seem'd to say, He had as lief, I had the kick, as they. ,, If she the mystic bellows take in hand, Who like the fair can that machine command? ,, O may'st thou ne'er by Eolus be seen, ,,For he would sure demand thee for his queen. But should the flame this rougher aid refuse, ,,And only gentler med'eines be of use; With full-blown cheeks she ends the doubtful strife, ,, Foments the infant flame, and puffs it into life. Such arts as these exalt the drooping fire, But in my breast a fiercer flame inspire: „I burn! I burn! O! give thy puffing o'er, „And swell thy cheeks and pout thy lips no more! With all her haughty looks, the time I've seen, When this proud damsel has more humble been, When with nice airs she hoist the pan- cake round, And dropt it, hapless fair! upon the ground. 39 Look, with what charming grace! what winning tricks, ,,The artful charmer rubs the candlesticks! ,,So bright she makes the candlesticks she handles, ,, Oft have I said there were no need of candles. ,, But thou, my fair! who never wouldst approve, Or hear the tender story of my love, ,, Or mind, how burns my raying breast a button ,, Perhaps art dreaming of a breast of mutton." Thus said, and wept, the sad desponding 'swain, Revealing to the sable walls his pain: But nymphs are free with those they should deny; Now chirping crickets raise their tinkling voice, The lambent flames in languid streams arise, And smoke in azure folds evaporates and dies. 3) A PA 8 TORAL BALL Arbusta humilesque myricae, I. ABSENCE. VIRG. Ye Shepherds so cheerful and gay, Whose flocks never carelessly roam, Oh! call the poor wanderers home. Nor talk of the change that ye find; I have left my dear Phyllis behind. And to leave her we love and admire. D, I have bade my dear Phyllis farewell. Since Phyllis vouchsaf'd me a look, I never once dreamt of my vine; I priz'd ev'ry hour that went by Beyond all that had pleas'd me before; And I grieve that I priz'd them no more. But why do I languish in vain; Why wander thus pensively here? Oh! why did I come from the plain, Where I fed on the smiles of my dear? } They tell me, my favourite maid, The pride of that valley, is flown; Alas! where with her I have stray'd I could wander with pleasure, alone. When forc'd the fair nymph to forego, What anguish I felt at mẹ heart! Yet I thought but it might not be so "Twas with pain that she saw me depart. She gaz'd as I slowly withdrew; My path I could hardly discern; So sweetly she bade me adieu, I thought that she bade me return. The pilgrim that journeys all day To visit some far- distant shrine, If he bear but a relique away, Is happy, nor heard to repine. Thus widely remov'd from the fair, Where my vows, my devotion, I owe, Soft hope is the relique I bear, And my solace wherever I go. 11. НОРЯ. My banks they are farnish'd with bees, And my hills are white over with sheep. I seldom have met with a loss, Such health do my fountains bestow; My fountains all border'd with moss, Where the hare-bells and violets grow. Not a pine in my grove is there seen One would think she might like to retire To the bower I have labour'd to rear; Not a shrub that I heard her admire, To prune the wild branches away. From the plains, from the woodlands, and groves, In a concert so soft and so clear, As she may not be fond to resign. 1 I have found out a gift for my fair: I have found where the wood-pigeons breed; But let me that plunder forbear, She will say 'twas a barbarous deed: For he ne'er could be true, she aver'd, Who could rob a poor bird of its young; I have heard her with sweetness unfold And she call'd it the sister of love. Can a bosom so gentle remain Unmov'd, when her Corydon sighs! Will a nymph that is fond of the plain, These plains and this valley despise? Dear regions of silence and shade! Soft scenes of contentment and ease! Where I could have pleasingly stray'd, If aught in her absence could please. But where does my Phyllida stray? And where are her grots and her bowers? Are the groves and the vallies as gay, And the face of the vallies as fine, III. SOLICITUDE. Why will you my passion reprove? Come and join in my amorous lays; That will sing but a song in her praise. When he sings, may the nymphs of the town Come trooping, and listen the while; Nay, on him let not Phyllida frown; But I cannot allow her to smile. For when Paridel tries in the dance my mind! And, his crook is bestudded around; And his pipe oh! my Phyllis, beware Tis his with mock passion to glow; |