Now fleeping flocks on their foft fleeces lie,
The moon, ferene in glory, mounts the sky,
While filent birds forget their tuneful lays,
Oh fing of Daphne's fate, and Daphne's praise !

THYR SI S.

Behold the groves that shine with filver frost,
Their beauty wither'd, and their verdure loft.
Here fhall I try the sweet Alexis ftrain,
That call'd the lift'ning Dryads to the plain?
Thames heard the numbers as he flow'd along,
And bade his willows learn the moving fong.

LYCIDA S.

5

ΙΘ

So may kind rains their vital moisture yield, 15 And fwell the future harvest of the field.

Begin; this charge the dying Daphne gave,
And faid, "Ye fhepherds, fing around my grave!"
Sing, while beside the shaded tomb I mourn,
And with fresh bays her rural shrine adorn.

THYRSIS.

Ye gentle Muses, leave your crystal spring, Let Nymphs and Sylvans cypress garlands bring;

66

20

Ye

being on the fame fubject with mine on Mrs. Tempeft's death, I fhould take it very kindly in you to give "it a little turn as if it were to the memory of the fame "lady." Her death having happened on the night of the great storm in 1703, gave a propriety to this eclogue, which in its general turn alludes to it. The scene of the Paftoral lies in a grove, the time at midnight. P.

IMITATIONS.

VER. 13. Thames heard, etc.]

Audiit Eurotas, jussitque edifcere lauros. Virg. P.

Ye weeping Loves, the ftream with myrtles hide,
And break your bows, as when Adonis dy'd;
And with your golden darts, now useless grown,
Inscribe a verse on this relenting stone:
26
"Let nature change, let heav'n and earth deplore,
"Fair Daphne's dead, and love is now no more!

'Tis done, and nature's various charms decay,
See gloomy clouds obfcure the chearful day!
Now hung with pearls the dropping trees appear,
Their faded honours fcatter'd on her bier.
See, where on earth the flow'ry glories lie,
With her they flourish'd, and with her they die.
Ah what avail the beauties nature wore?
Fair Daphne's dead, and beauty is no more!
For her the flocks refufe their verdant food,

The thirsty heifers fhun the gliding flood.
The filver fwans her hapless fate bemoan,

In notes more fad than when they fing their own;
In hollow caves fweet Echo filent lies,

Silent, or only to her name replies;

30

35

41

Her name with pleasure once she taught the fhore, Now Daphne's dead, and pleasure is no more!

No grateful dews defcend from ev'ning skies, Nor morning odours from the flow'rs arise;

!

VARIATIONS.

VER. 29. Originally thus in the MS.

46

No

"Tis done, and nature's chang'd fince you are gone; Behold the clouds have put their Mourning on.

IMITATIONS.

VER. 23, 24, 25.

Inducite fontibus umbras

Et tumulum facite, et tumulo fuperaddit carmen. P.

50

55

No rich perfumes refresh the fruitful field,
Nor fragrant herbs their native incenfe yield.
The balmy Zephyrs, filent fince her death,
Lament the ceafing of a sweeter breath;
Th' industrious bees neglect their golden ftore!
Fair Daphne's dead, and fweetnefs is no more!
No more the mounting larks, while Daphne fings,
Shall lift'ning in mid air suspend their wings;
No more the birds shall imitate her lays,
Or hufh'd with wonder, hearken from the sprays:
No more the ftreams their murmurs fhall forbear,
A fweeter mufic than their own to hear,
But tell the reeds, and tell the vocal fhore,
Fair Daphne's dead, and mufic is no more!
Her fate is whisper'd by the gentle breeze,
And told in fighs to all the trembling trees;
The trembling trees, in ev'ry plain and wood,
Her fate remurmur to the filver flood;
The filver flood, fo lately calm, appears
Swell'd with new paffion, and o'erflows with tears;
The winds and trees and floods her death deplore,
Daphne, our grief! our glory now no more!

60

65

But fee! where Daphne wond'ring mounts on high

Above the clouds, above the starry sky!
Eternal beauties grace the fhining scene,
Fields ever fresh, and groves for ever green
There while you reft in Amaranthine bow'rs,
Or from thofe meads felect unfading flow'rs,

!

70

Behold

VER. 6), 70.

IMITATIONS.

miratur limen Olympi,

Sub pedibufque videt nubes et fydera Daphnis. Virg. P.

Behold us kindly, who your name implore,
Daphne, our Goddess, and our grief no more!

LYCIDA S.

75

How all things liften, while thy Muse complains! Such filence waits on Philomela's strains,

80

In some still ev'ning, when the whisp'ring breeze
Pants on the leaves, and dies upon the trees.
To thee, bright goddess, oft a lamb shall bleed,
If teeming ewes encrease my fleecy breed.
While plants their shade, or flow'rs their odours give,
Thy name, thy honour, and thy praise shall live!

THYRSIS.

But fee, Orion sheds unwholsome dews,
Arife, the pines a noxious fhade diffuse ;
Sharp Boreas blows, and Nature feels decay,
Time conquers all, and we muft Time obey.

85

Adieu,

VARIATIONS,

VER. 83. Originally thus in the MS.

While Vapours rife, and driving fnows defcend,
Thy honour, name, and praise fhall never end.

illius aram

Sæpe tener noftris ab ovilibus imbuet agnus. Virg. P.

VER. 86.

folet effe gravis cantantibus umbra,

Juniperi gravis umbra,

VER. 88. Time conquers all, etc.

Virg. P.

Omnia vincit amor, et nos cedamus amori,

Vid. etiam Sannazarii Ecl. et Spencer's Calendar,

VOL. I.

D

90

Adieu, ye vales, ye mountains, ftreams and groves,
Adieu, ye shepherd's rural lays and loves;
Adieu, my flocks, farewell ye fylvan crew,
Daphne, farewell, and all the world adieu.

VER. 89, etc.] These four laft lines allude to the feveral fubjects of the four Paftorals, and to the feveral scenes of them, particularized before in each. P.