For maidenhood fhe loves, and will be fwift To aid a virgin, fuch as was herself, In hard-befetting need; this will I try, And add the power of fome adjuring verse,
Liften where thou art fitting
Under the glaffy, cool, translucent wave, In twisted braids of lillies knitting The loofe train of thy amber-dropping hair; Liften for dear honour's fake,
Goddess of the filver lake, Liften and fave.
Liften and appear to us, In name of great Oceanus,
By the earth-fhaking Neptune's mace, And Tethys grave majestic pace, By hoary Nereus wrinkled look, And the Carpathian wifard's hook, By fcaly Triton's winding fhell, And old footh-faying Glaucus fpell, By Leucothea's lovely hands, And her fon that rules the strands, By Thetis tinfel-flipper'd feet, And the fongs of Sirens fweet, By dead Parthenope's dear tomb, And fair Ligea's golden comb, Wherewith the fits on diamond rocks, Sleeking her foft alluring locks, By all the nymphs that nightly dance Upon thy ftreams with wily glance, Rife, rife, and heave thy rofy head From thy coral-paven bed,
And bridle in thy headlong wave, Till thou our fummons anfwer'd have.
Sabrina rifes, attended by water-nymphs, and fings.
By the rafby-fringed bank,
Where grows the willow and the ofier dank, My fliding chariot ftays,
Thick fet with agat, and the azure fheen Of turkis blue, and emrauld green That in the channel ftrays, Whilft from off the waters fleet Thus I fet my printless feet O'er the cowflip's velvet head, That bends not as I tread; Gentle fwain, at thy request I am here.
Spir. Goddess dear,
We implore thy powerful hand
To undo the charmed band Of true virgin here diftreft,
Through the force, and through the wile
Of unbleft inchanter vile.
Sab. Shepherd, 'tis my office beft To help infnared chastity; Brighteft lady look on me, Thus I fprinkle on thy breaft Drops that from my fountain pure, I have kept of precious cure, Thrice upon thy fingers tip, Thrice upon thy rubied lip, Next this marble venom'd feat Smear'd with gums of glutinous heat I touch with chafte palms moift and cold, Now the spell hath loft his hold; And I muft hafte ere morning hour To wait in Amphitrite's bow'r.
Sabrina defcends, and the lady rifes out of her feat.
Spir. Virgin daughter of Locrine,
Sprung of old Anchifes line,
May thy brimmed waves for this Their full tribute never miss
From a thousand petty rills, That tumble down the fnowy hills: Summer drouth, or finged air Never fcorch thy treffes fair, Nor wet October's torrent flood Thy molten crystal fill with mud; May thy billows roul afhore The beryl, and the golden ore, May thy lofty head be crown'd With many a tower and terrass round, And here and there thy banks upon With groves of myrrhe, and cinnamon.
Come, lady, while heav'n lends us grace, Let us fly this curfed place,
Left the forcerer us intice With fome other new device. Not a waste, or needlefs found, Till we come to holier ground, I fhall be your faithful guide Through this gloomy covert wide, And not many furlongs thence Is your father's refidence, Where this night are met in ftate Many a friend to gratulate His wifh'd prefence; and befide All the fwains that there abide, With jigs, and rural dance refort, We fhall catch them at their fport, And our fudden coming there
Will double all their mirth and chere;
Come let us hafte, the stars grow high, But night fits monarch yet in the mid fky.
The fcene changes, prefenting Ludlow town, and the Prefident's cafile, then come in country dancers, af- ter them the attendant spirit, with the two brothers and the lady.
Spir. Back, Shepherds, back, enough your play, Till next fun-fhine holiday, Here be without duck, or nod, Other trippings to be trod
Of lighter toes, and fuch court guife
As Mercury did firft devife
With the mincing Dryades
On the lawns, and on the leas.
This fecond fong prefents them to their father and mother,
Noble lord and lady bright, I have brought ye new delight, Here behold fo goodly grown
Three fair branches of your own,
Heav'n hath timely try'd their youth,
Their faith, their patience, and their truth,
And fent them here through hard affays
With a crown of deathless praise,
To triumph in victorious dance
O'er fenfual folly, and intemperance.
The dances ended, the fpirit epilogulzes.
Spir. To the ocean now I fly, And thofe happy climes that ly Where day never fhuts his eye, Up in the broad fields of the fky :
There I fuck the liquid air All amidst the gardens fair
Of Hefperus, and his daughters three That fing about the golden tree: Along the crifped fhades and bowres Revels the spruce and jocund fpring, The graces, and the rofie-bofom'd hours Thither all their bounties bring, There eternal fummer dwells,
And weft winds, with musky wing About the cedar'n alleys fling Nard, and Caffia's balmy fmells. Iris there with humid bow,
Waters the odorous banks that blow Flowers of more mingled hew Than her purfled fcarf can fhew, And drenches with Elyfian dew (Lift mortals, if your ears be true) Beds of Hyacinth, and rofes Where young Adonis oft repofes, Waxing well of his deep wound In flamber foft, and on the ground Sadly fits th' Affyrian queen; But far above in fpangled sheen Celestial Cupid her fam'd fon advanc'd, Holds his dear Pfyche fweet intranc'd, After her wandring labours long, Till free confent the gods among Make her his eternal bride, And from her fair unspotted fide Two blissful twins are to be born, Youth and Joy; fo Jove hath fworn. But now my talk is fmoothly done, I can fly, or I can run
Quickly to the green earth's end,
Where the bow'd welkin, flow doth bend,
And from thence can foar as foon
To the corners of the moon.
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