At every fall smoothing the raven down Of darkness till it smil'd! I have oft heard Culling their potent herbs, and baleful drugs, 255 And chid her barking waves into attention, I never heard till now. I'll speak to her, Dwell'st here with Pan, or Silvan, by blest song Forbidding every bleak unkindly fog 269 To touch the prosp'rous growth of this tall wood. Not any boast of skill, but extreme shift 275 To give me answer from her mossy couch. [thus? COM.What chance, good Lady, hath bereft you LA. Dim darkness, and this leafy labyrinth. COM. Could that divide you from near-ushering LA. They left me weary on a grassy turf. [guides Volume III. COм. By falsehood, or discourtesy, or why? 281 LA. To seek i'th' valley some cool friendly spring. COM. And left your fair side all unguarded, Lady? LA. They were but twain, and purpos'd quick return. COм. Perhaps forestalling Night prevented them. LA. How easy my misfortune is to hit! 286 COM. Imports their loss, beside the present need? LA. No less than if I should my brothers lose. COм. Were they of manly prime, or youthful bloom? LA. As smooth as Hebe's their unrazor'd lips. COM. Two such I saw, what time the labor'd ox In his loose traces from the furrow came, And the swinkt hedger at his supper sat; I saw them under a green mantling vine That crawls along the side of yon small hill, Plucking ripe clusters from the tender shoots; Their port was more than human, as they stood : I took it for a faëry vision Of some gay creatures of the element, That in the colors of the rainbow live, 295 300 And play i' th' plighted clouds. I was awe-struck, 305 LA. Gentle Villager, What readiest way would bring me to that place? COM. Due west it rises from this shrubby point. LA. To find out that, good Shepherd, I suppose In such a scant allowance of star-light, LA. Shepherd, I take thy word, And trust thy honest offer'd courtesy, Which oft is sooner found in lowly sheds With smoky rafters, than in tap'stry halls 315 320 And courts of princes, where it first was nam'd, 325 I cannot be, that I should fear to change it. The two BROTHERS. [Moon, E. BRO. Unmuffle ye faint Stars, and thou fair That wont'st to love the traveller's benizon, Stoop thy pale visage through an amber cloud, And disinherit Chaos, that reigns here In double night of darkness and of shades 335 With thy long levell'd rule of streaming light, 340 Y. BRO. Or if our eyes 345 Be barr'd that happiness, might we but hear The folded flocks penn'd in their watled cotes, Or sound of past'ral reed with oaten stops, Or whistle from the lodge, or village cock Count the night watches to his feathery dames, 'Twould be some solace yet, some little cheering In this close dungeon of innumerous boughs. But O that hapless virgin, our lost sister, Where may she wander now, whither betake her, From the chill dew, amongst rude burs and thistles ? Perhaps some cold bank is her bolster now, Or 'gainst the rugged bark of some broad elm Leans her unpillow'd head fraught with sad fears. What if in wild amazement, and affright, 350 356 Or, while we speak, within the direful grasp E. BRO. Peace, Brother, be not over-exquisite To cast the fashion of uncertain evils : 360 For grant they be so, while they rest unknown, What need a man forestal his date of grief, Or if they be but false alarms of fear, And the sweet peace that goodness bosoms ever, 365 370 (Not being in danger, as I trust she is not) Could stir the constant mood of her calm thoughts, By her own radiant light, though sun and moon Where with her best nurse Contemplation 375 She plumes her feathers, and lets grow her wings, Were all too ruffled, and sometimes impair'd. 380 Y. BRO. 'Tis most true, That nusing Meditation most affects Far from the cheerful haunt of men and herds, 385 For who would rob a hermit of his weeds, 390 |