Her fhort performance was no fooner try'd,
When the I fought, the nightingale, reply'd:
So fweet, fo fhrill, fo varioutly the fung,
That the grove echoed, and the valleys rung:
And I fo ravifh'd with her heavenly note,
I ftood intranc'd, and had no room for thought,
But, all o'er-power'd with ecftafy of bliss,
Was in a pleafing dream of paradife;
At length I wak'd, and, looking round the bower,
Search'd every tree, and pry'd on every flower,
If any-where by chance I might espy,
The rural poet of the melody:
For ftill methought the fung not far away :
At laft I found her on a laurel spray.
Clofe by my fide she fat, and fair in fight,
Full in a line against her oppofite;
Where flood with eglantine the laurel twin'd;
And both their native sweets were well conjoin'd.
On the green bank I fat, and liften'd long
(Sitting was more convenient for the fong):
Nor till her lay was ended could I move,
But wifh'd to dwell for ever in the grove.
Only methought the time too fwiftly pafs'd,
And every note I fear'd would be the last.
My fight, and fmell, and hearing, were employ'd,
And all three fenfes in full guft enjoy'd.
And what alone did all the reft furpass,
The fweet poffeffion of the fairy place;
Single, and conscious to myself alone
Of pleasures to th' excluded world unknown:
Pleafures which no where elfe were to be found,
And all Elyfium in a spot of ground.
Thus while I fat intent to fee and hear,
And drew perfumes of more than vital air,
All fuddenly I heard th' approaching found
Of vocal mufic, on th' inchanted ground:
An hoft of faints it feem'd, fo full the quire;
As if the blefs'd above did all confpire
To join their voices, and neglect the lyre.
At length there iffued from the grove behind
A fair affembly of the female kind :
A train lefs fair, as ancient fathers tell,
Seduc'd the fons of heaven to rebel.
I pass their form, and every charming grace,
Lefs than an angel would their worth debase:
But their attire, like liveries of a kind
All rich and rare, is fresh within my mind.
In velvet white as fnow the troop was gown'd,
The feams with sparkling emeralds set around :
Their hoods and fleeves the fame; and purfled o'er
With diamonds, pearls, and all the shining store
Of eastern pomp: their long defcending train,
With rubies edg'd, and fapphires, fwept the plain :
High on their heads, with jewels richly fet,
Each lady wore a radiant coronet.
Beneath the circles, all the quire was grac'd
With chaplets green on their fair foreheads plac'd.
Of laurel fome, of woodbine many more;
And wreaths of Agnus castus others bore :
These laft, who with those virgin crowns were drefs'd,
Appear'd in higher honour than the rest.
They danc'd around : but in the midst was feen
A lady of a more majestic mien ;
By ftature and by beauty mark'd their sovereign queen.
She in the midft began with sober grace;
Her fervant's eyes were fix'd upon her face,
And, as she mov'd or turn'd, her motions view'd,
Her measures kept, and step by step pursued.
Methought the trod the ground with greater grace,
With more of godhead fhining in her face ;
And as in beauty fhe furpafs'd the quire,
So, nobler than the reft, was her attire.
A crown of ruddy gold inclos'd her brow,
Plain without pomp, and rich without a show :
A branch of Agnus caftus in her hand
She bore aloft (her fceptre of command);
Admir'd, ador'd by all the circling crowd,
For wherefoe'er fhe turn'd her face, they bow'd:
And as the danc'd, a roundelay she fung,
In honour of the laurel, ever young:
She rais'd her voice on high, and sung so clear,
The fawns came fcudding from the groves to hear :
And all the bending foreft lent an ear.
At every close he made, th' attending throng
Reply'd, and bore the burden of the song :
So juft, fo fmall, yet in fo fweet a note,
It feem'd the mufic melted in the throat.
Thus dancing on, and finging as they danc'd, They to the middle of the mead advanc'd,
Till round my arbour a new ring they made,
And footed it about the fecret fhade.
O'erjoy'd to fee the jolly troop so near,
But fomewhat aw'd, I shook with holy fear;
Yet not fo much, but that I noted well
Who did the most in song or dance excel.
Not long I had obferv'd, when from afar
I heard a fudden fymphony of war;
The neighing courfers, and the foldiers cry,
And founding trumps that feem'd to tear the sky:
I faw foon after this, behind the grove
From whence the ladies did in order move,
Come iffuing out in arms a warrior train,
That like a deluge pour'd upon the plain :
On barbed steeds they rode in proud array,
Thick as the college of the bees in May,
When fwarming o'er the dufky fields they fly,
New to the flowers, and intercept the sky.
So fierce they drove, their courfers were so fleet,
That the turf trembled underneath their feet.
To tell their coftly furniture were long,
The fummer's day would end before the fong:
To purchase but the tenth of all their store,
Would make the mighty Perfian monarch poor.
Yet what I can, I will; before the reft
The trumpets iffued in white mantles drefs'd:
A numerous troop, and all their heads around
With chaplets green of cerrial-oak were crown'd.
And at each truinpet was a banner bound;
Which waving in the wind display'd at large
Their master's coat of arms, and knightly charge.
Broad were the banners, and of snowy hue,
A purer web the filk-worm never drew.
The chief about their necks the fcutcheons wore,
With orient pearls and jewels powder'd o'er :
Broad were their collars too, and every one
Was fet about with many a coftly stone.
Next thefe of kings at arms a goodly train
In proud array came prancing o'er the plain :
Their cloaks were cloth of filver mix'd with gold,
And garlands green around their temples roll'd :
Rich crowns were on their royal scutcheons plac'd,
With fapphires, diamonds, and with rubies grac'd:
And as the trumpets their appearance made,
So thefe in habits were alike array'd;
But with a pace more fober, and more flow;
And twenty, rank in rank, they rode a row.
The pursuivants came next, in number more;
And like the heralds each his fcutcheon bore:
Clad in white velvet all their troop they led,
With each an oaken chaplet on his head.
Nine royal knights in equal rank fucceed,
Each warrior mounted on a fiery steed :
In golden armour glorious to behold;
The rivets of their arms were nail'd with gold.
Their furcoats of white ermin fur were made,
With cloth of gold between, that caft a glittering fhade;
The trappings of their steeds were of the fame;
The golden fringe ev'n fet the ground on flame,
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