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.
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 th' earth-shaking Neptune's mace, And Tethy's 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 Sirens sweet,
By dead Parthenope's dear tomb, And fair Ligea's golden comb, Wherewith she sits on diamond rocks, H*
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 em'rald 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.
Spirit. 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.
Sab. Shepherd, 'tis my office best To help ensnar'd chastity: Brightest Lady, look on me; Thus I sprinkle on thy breast Drops that from my fountain 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.
Spirit. 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 Summer drouth, or singed air Never scorch thy tresses fair, Nor wet October's torrent flood Thy molten chrystal 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 near 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 two Brothers and the Lady.
Spi. Back, Shepherds, back, enough your play,. Till next sun-shine holiday:
Here be without duck or nod
Other trappings 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 you 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
With a crown of deathless praise,
To triumph in victorious dance O'er sensual folly, and intemperance.
The dances ended, the Spirit epilogizies.
Spir. To the ocean now I fly, And those happy climes that lie Where day never shuts his eye,
Up in the broad fields of the sky: There I suck the liquid air All amidst the gardens fair
Of Hesperus and his daughters three That sing about the golden tree. Along the crisped shades and bowers Revils the spruce and jocund Spring, The Graces, and the rosy bosom'd Hours. Thither all their bounties bring; That there eternal summer dwells And west-winds with musky wing About the cedarn alleys fling Nard and Cassia's balmy smells. Iris there with humid bow
Waters the odorous banks, that blow Flowers of more mingled hue Than her purfled scarf can show. And drenches with Elysian dew (List mortals, if your ears be true) Beds of hyacinth and roses, Where young Adonis oft reposes, Waxing well of his deep wound In slumber soft, and on the ground Sadly sits th' Assyrian queen; But far above in spangled sheen Celestial Cupid her fam'd son advanc'd, Holds his dear Psyche sweet intranc'd, After her wand'ring labours long Till free consent the gods among Make her his eternal bride, And from her fair unspotted side Two blissful twins are to be born. Youth and Joy; so Jove hath sworn. But now my task is smoothly done, I can fly, or I can run
Quickly to the green earth's end,
Where the bow'd welkin slow doth bend, And from thence can soar as soon
To the corners of the moon.
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