Such are those thick and gloomy shadows damp Oft seen in charnel-vaults and sepulchres,Lingering and sitting by a new-made grave,As loth to leave the body that it loved,And linked itself by carnal sensualty To a degenerate and degraded state.
SEC.BRO.How charming is divine Philosophy!
Not harsh and crabbed,as dull fools suppose,But musical as is Apollo's lute,And a perpetual feast of nectared sweets,Where no crude surfeit reigns.
Eld.Bro.List!
list!I hear Some far-off hallo break the silent air.
SEC.BRO.Methought so too;what should it be?
ELD.BRO.For certain.
Either some one,like us,night-foundered here,Or else some neighbour woodman,or,at worst,Some roving robber calling to his fellows.
SEC.BRO.Heaven keep my sister!Again,again,and near!
Best draw,and stand upon our guard.
ELD.BRO.I'll hallo!
If he be friendly,he comes well:if not,Defence is a good cause,and Heaven be for us!
The ATTENDANT SPIRIT,habited like a shepherd.
That hallo I should know.What are you?speak.
Come not too near;you fall on iron stakes else.
SPIR.What voice is that?my young Lord?speak again.
SEC.BRO.O brother,Tt is my father's Shepherd,sure.
ELD.BRO.Thyrsis!whose artful strains have of delayed The huddling brook to hear his madrigal,And sweetened every musk-rose of the dale.
How camest thou here,good swain?Hath any ram Slipped from the fold,or young kid lost his dam,Or straggling wether the pent flock forsook?
How couldst thou find this dark sequestered nook?
SPIR.O my loved master's heir,and his next joy,I came not here on such a trivial toy As a strayed ewe,or to pursue the stealth Of pilfering wolf;not all the fleecy wealth That doth enrich these downs is worth a thought To this my errand,and the care it brought.
But,oh !my virgin Lady,where is she?
How chance she is not in your company?
ELD.BRO.To tell thee sadly,Shepherd,without blame Or our neglect,we lost her as we came.
SPIR.Ay me unhappy!then my fears are true.
ELD.BRO.What fears,good Thyrsis?Prithee briefly shew.
SPIR.I'll tell ye.'T is not vain or fabulous (Though so esteemed by shallow igrlorance)What the sage poets,taught by the heavenly Muse,Storied of old in high immortal verse Of dire Chimeras and enchanted isles,And rifted rocks whose entrance leads to Hell;For such there be,but unbelief is blind.
Within the navel of this hideous wood,Immured in cypress shades,a sorcerer dwells,Of Bacchus and of Circe born,great Comus,Deep skilled in all his mother's witcheries,And here to every thirsty wanderer By sly enticement gives his baneful cup,With many murmurs mixed,whose pleasing poison The visage quite transforms of him that drinks,And the inglorious likeness of a beast Fixes instead,unmoulding reason's mintage Charactered in the face.This have I learnt Tending my flocks hard by i'the hilly crofts That brow this bottom glade;whence night by night He and his monstrous rout are heard to howl Like stabled wolves,or tigers at their prey,Doing abhorred rites to Hecate In their obscured haunts of inmost bowers.
Yet have they many baits and guileful spells To inveigle and invite the unwary sense Of them that pass unweeting by the way.
This evening late,by then the chewing flocks Had ta'en their supper on the savoury herb Of knot-grass dew-besprent,and were in fold,I sat me down to watch upon a bank With ivy canopied,and interwove With flaunting honeysuckle,and began,Wrapt in a pleasing fit of melancholy,To meditate my rural minstrelsy,Till fancy had her fill.But ere a close The wonted roar was up amidst the woods,And filled the air with barbarous dissonance;At which I ceased,and listened them awhile,Till an unusual stop of sudden silence Gave respite to the drowsy-flighted steeds That draw the litter of close-curtained Sleep.
At last a soft and solemn-breathing sound Rose like a steam of rich distilled perfumes,And stole upon the air,that even Silence Was took ere she was ware,and wished she might Deny her nature,and be never more,Still to be so displaced.I was all ear,And took in strains that might create a soul Under the ribs of Death.But,oh!ere long Too well I did perceive it was the voice Of my most honoured Lady,your dear sister.
Amazed I stood,harrowed with grief and fear;And RO poor hapless nightingale,"thought I,How sweet thou sing'st,how near the deadly snare!"Then down the lawns I ran with headlong haste,Through paths and turnings often trod by day,Till,guided by mine ear,I found the place Where that damned wizard,hid in sly disguise (For so by certain signs I knew),had met Already,ere my best speed could prevent,The aidless innocent lady,his wished prey;Who gently asked if he had seen such two,Supposing him some neighbour villager.
Longer I durst not stay,but soon I guessed Ye were the two she meant;with that I sprung Into swift flight,till I had found you here;But further know I not.
SEC.BRO.O night and shades,How are ye joined with hell in triple knot Against the unarmed weakness of one virgin,Alone and helpless!Is this the confidence You gave me,brother?
ELD.BRO.Yes,and keep it still;Lean on it safely;not a period Shall be unsaid for me.Against the threats Of malice or of sorcery,or that power Which erring men call Chance,this I hold firm:
Virtue may be assailed,but never hurt,Surprised by unjust force,but not enthralled;Yea,even that which Mischief meant most harm Shall in the happy trial prove most glory.
But evil on itself shall back recoil,And mix no more with goodness,when at last,Gathered like scum,and settled to itself,It shall be in eternal restless change Self-fed and self-consumed.If this fail,The pillared firmament is rottenness,And earth's base built on stubble.But come,let's on!
