I know this quest of yours, and free intent
Was all in honour and devotion ment
To the great Mistress of yon princely fhrine,
Whom with low reverence I adore as mine,
And with all helpful service will comply
To further this night's glad folemnity;
And lead ye where ye may more near behold
What shallow-fearching Fame hath left untold;
Which I full oft amidst thefe fhades alone
Have fat to wonder at, and gaze upon:
For know by lot from Jove I am the pow't
Of this fair Wood, and live in Oak'n bow'r,
To nurse the Saplings tall, and curl the grove
With Ringlets quaint, and wanton windings wove.,
And all my Plants Į fave from nightly ill,
Of noisom winds, and blasting vapours chill.
And from the Boughs brush off the evil dew,
And heal the harms of thwarting thunder blew,
Or what the cross dire-looking Planet smites,
Or hurtful Worm with canker'd venom bites.
When Eev'ning gray doth rife, I fetch my round
Over the mount, and all this hallow'd ground,
And early ere the odorous breath of morn
Awakes the flumbring leaves, or taffeld horn
Shakes the high thicket, hafte I all about,
Number my ranks, and vifit every sprout
With puiffant words, and murmurs made to blefs,
But elfe in deep of night when drowsiness
Hath lockt up mortal sense, then liften I
To the celestial Sirens harmony,
That fit upon the nine enfolded Sphears,
And fing to those that hold the vital shears,
And turn the Adamantine spindle round,
On which the fate of gods and men is wound.
Such fweet compulsion doth in mufick ly,
To lull the daughters of Neceffity,
And keep unfteddy Nature to her law,
And the low world in meafar'd motion draw
After the heavenly tune, which none can hear
Of human mould with grofs unpurged ear;
And yet fuch musick worthiest were to blaze
The peerless height of her immortal praise,.
Whofe luftre leads us, and for her moft fit,
If my inferior hand or voice could hit
Inimitable founds, yet as we go,
What ere the skill of leffer gods can show,
I will affay, her worth to celebrate,"
And fo attend ye toward her glittering states
Where ye may all that are of noble ftemm
Approach, and kifs her facred veftures hemm.
Re the fmooth enamel'd green,
Where no print of step hath been,
Follow me as I fing
And touch the warbled fring.
Under the fhady roof
Of branching Elm-Star-proof,
I will bring you where the fits,
Clad in fplendor as befits
Her Deity.
Such a rural Queen
All Arcadia hath not feen.
Ymphs and Shepherds dance no more
By fandy Ladons Lillied banks.
On old Lycaus or Cyllene hoar,
Trip no more in twilight ranks, Though Erymanth your lofs deplore,
A better foyl fhall give ye thanks.
From the ftony Manalus,
Bring your Flocks, and live with us,
Here ye shall have greater grace,
To serve the Lady of this place.
Though Syrinx your Pan's Mistress were,
Yet Syrinx well might wait on her.
Such a rural Queen
All Arcadia hath not feen.
The Earl of BRIDGEWATER,
then Prefident of WALES.
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