Some other means I have which may be us❜d,
Which once of Melibaus old I learnt,

The soothest shepherd that e'er pip'd on plains.

There is a gentle Nymph not far from hence, That with moist curb sways the smooth Severn Sabrina is her name, a virgin pure;

[stream,

Whilom she was the daughter of Locrine,
That had the sceptre from his father Brute.
She, guiltless damsel, flying' the mad pursuit
Of her enraged stepdame Guendolen,
Commended her fair innocence to the flood,
That staid her flight with his cross-flowing course.
The water-nymphs, that in the bottom play'd,
Held up their pearled wrists, and took her in,
Bearing her straight to aged Nereus' hall;
Who, piteous of her woes, rear'd her lank head
And gave her to his daughters to imbathe
In nectar'd lavers, strew'd with asphodel;
And through the porch and inlet of each sense
Drop'd in ambrosial oils, till she reviv'd,
And underwent a quick immortal change,
Made goddess of the river: still she retains
Her maiden gentleness, and oft at eve
Visits the herds along the twilight meadows,
Helping all urchin blasts, and ill-luck signs
That the shrewd meddling elf delights to make,
Which she with precious vial'd liquors heals;
For which the shepherds at their festivals
Carol her goodness loud in rustic lays,

And throw sweet garland wreaths into her stream
Of pansies, pinks, and gaudy daffodils.

And, as the old swain said, she can unlock
The clasping charm, and thaw the numbing spell,
If she be right invok'd in warbled song ;

For maidenhood she loves, and will be swift
To aid a virgin, such as was herself,
In hard-besetting need; this will I try,
And add the power of some adjuring verse.

Sabrina fair,

SONG.

Listen where thou art sitting

Under the glassy, cool, translucent wave,
In twisted braids of lilies knitting
The loose train of thy amber-dropping hair;
Listen for dear honour's sake,
Goddess of the silver lake,

Listen, and save.

Listen, and appear to us,

In name of great Oceanus;

By the' earth-shaking Neptune's made,
And Tethys' grave majestic pace,
By hoary Nereus' wrinkled look,
And the Carpathian wizard's hook,
By scaly Triton's winding shell,
And old sooth-saying Glaucus' spell,
By Leucothea's lovely hands,
And her son that rules the strands,
By Thetis' tinsel-slipper'd feet,
And the songs of Siren's sweet,
By dead Parthenope's dear tomb,
And fair Ligea's golden comb,
Wherewith she sits on diamond rocks,
Sleeking her soft alluring locks;
By all the Nymphs that nightly dance
Upon thy streams with wily glance,
Rise, rise, and heave thy rosy head,
From thy coral-paven bed,

And bridle in thy headlong wave,

Till thou our summons answer'd have.

Listen, and save.

SABRINA rises, attended by Water-Nymphs, and sings.

By the rushy-fringed bank,

Where grows the willow and the osier dank,

My sliding chariot stays,

Thick set with agate, and the azure sheen

Of turkis blue, and emerald

green,

That in the channel strays; Whilst from off the waters fleet Thus I set my printless feet O'er the cowslip's velvet head,

That bends not as I tread;

Gentle Swain, at thy request,
I am here.

Sp. Goddess dear,

We implore thy powerful hand
To undo the charmed band

Of true virgin here distress'd,

Through the force, and through the wile,

Of unbless'd enchanter vile.

Sabr. Shepherd, 'tis my office best

To help ensnared chastity:

Brightest Lady, look on me;
Thus I sprinkle on thy breast
Drops, that from

my fountain pure I have kept, of precious cure; Thrice upon thy finger's tip,

Thrice upon thy rubied lip:
Next this marble venom'd seat,

Smear'd with gums of glutinous heat,

I touch with chaste palms moist and cold:→→
Now the spell hath lost his hold,

And I must haste, ere morning hour,

To wait in Amphitrite's bower.

SABRINA descends, and the LADY rises out of her

seat.

Sp. Virgin, daughter of Locrine

Sprung of old Anchises' line,

May thy brimmed waves for this
Their full tribute never miss

From a thousand petty rills,
That tumble down the snowy hills:
Summer drouth, or singed air,
Never scorch thy tresses fair,
Nor wet October's torrent flood
Thy molten crystal fill with mud;
May thy billows roll ashore

The beryl and the golden ore;
May thy lofty head be crown'd
With many a tower and terrace round,
And here and there thy banks upon
With groves of myrrh and cinnamon.

Come, Lady, while Heaven lends us grace,

Let us fly this cursed place,

Lest the sorcerer us entice
With some other new device.
Not a waste or needless sound,
Till we come to holier ground;
I shall be your faithful guide
Through this gloomy covert wide,
And not many furlongs thence
Is your Father's residence,
Where this night are met in state
Many a friend to gratulate
His wish'd presence; and beside
All the swains, that there abide,

With jigs and rural dance resort;
We shall catch them at their sport,
And our sudden coming there

Will double all their mirth and cheer;
Come, let us haste, the stars grow high,
But night sits monarch yet in the mid sky.

The Scene changes, presenting Ludlow town and the President's castle; then come in Country Dancers, after them the ATTENDANT SPIRIT, with the Twe BROTHERS, and the LADY.

SONG.

Sp. Back, Shepherds, back; enough your play, Till next sun-shine holiday :

Here be, without duck or nod,

Other trippings to be trod

Of lighter toes, and such court guise

As Mercury did first devise,

With the mincing dryades,

On the lawns, and on the leas.

This second Song presents them to their Father_and
Mother.

Noble Lord, and Lady bright,
I have brought ye new delight;
Here behold so goodly grown
Three fair branches of your own;

Heaven hath timely tried their youth,

Their faith, their patience, and their truth,

And sent them here through hard assays

With a crown of deathless praise,

To triumph in victorious dance

O'er sensual Folly and Intemperance.