Where young Adonis oft reposes, Quickly to the green earth's end, Where the bow'd welkin slow doth bend ; Mortals, that would follow me, Heaven itself would stoop to her. ''Assyrian queen:' Venus.- 'Cupid' and 'Psyche:' see Emerson's Essay on Love.'-'Sphery chime:' music of spheres. L ARCADES.1 PART OF A Mask, PRESENTED At Harefield, before the COUNTESS-DOWAGER OF DERBY. 1. SONG. LOOK, Nymphs and Shepherds, look, Is that which we from hence descry, This, this is she 2 To whom our vows and wishes bend; Fame, that, her high worth to raise, Less than half we find exprest Envy bid conceal the rest. ''Arcades: the fragment of a larger performance, the rest of which was probably in prose. It was performed at Harefield before the Countess of Derby, its heroine, not later than 1636. She was married at the time to Lord Chancellor Egerton, and died in 1635-6. She was related to Edmund Spenser, who celebrated her, when a widow, in his 'Colin Clout's come home again,' as Amaryllis.This is she:' namely, the Countess of Derby. Mark, what radiant state she spreads, Sitting, like a goddess bright, Might she the wise Latona1 be, Who had thought this clime had held A deity so unparallel'd? As they come forward, the GENIUS of the Wood appears, and turning towards them, speaks. Gen. Stay, gentle Swains; for, though in this disguise, I see bright honour sparkle through your eyes; Of famous Arcady ye are, and sprung Of that renowned flood, so often sung, Divine Alphéus, who by secret sluice Stole under seas, to meet his Arethuse; And ye, the breathing roses of the wood, Fair silver-buskin'd Nymphs, as great and good; I know, this quest of yours, and free intent, Was all in honour and devotion meant To the great mistress of yon princely shrine, Whom with low reverence I adore as mine; And, with all helpful service, will comply To further this night's glad solemnity; 1 'Latona: Diana. - Cybele:' mother of the gods. And lead ye, where ye may more near behold That sit upon nine infolded spheres, ''Syrens:' this is an apt allusion to Plato's notion of Fate or Necessity holding a spindle of adamant, while, with her three daughters, Lachesis, Clotho, and Atropos, she conducts a ravishing musical harmony. Nine Syrens or Muses sit on the summit of the spheres, and produce a music, in harmony with which the spindle revolves, and the three daughters of Fate for ever sing -a notion involving many and mysterious lessons. Such sweet compulsion doth in musick lie And keep unsteady Nature to her law, And so attend ye toward her glittering state II. SONG. O'er the smooth enamell'd green Where no print of step hath been, Follow me, as I sing 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. |