DAPHNIS.

Celestial Venus haunts Idalia's groves;
Diana Cynthus, Ceres Hybla loves,
If Wind for fhades delight the matchless maid,
Cynthus and Hybla yield to Windfor-fhade.

STREPHON.

3 All nature mourns, the skies relent in fhow'rs, Hush'd are the birds, and clos'd the drooping flow'rs; If Delia fmile, the flow'rs begin to fpring, 71 The fkies to brighten, and the birds to fing.

DAPHNIS.

All nature laughs, the groves are fresh and fair,
The fun's mild luftre warms the vital air;
If Sylvia fmiles, new glories gild the fhore,
And vanquish'd nature feems to charm no more.
STREPHON.

VARIATION S.

VER. 69. &c. Thefe verfes were thus at first :

All nature mourns, the birds their fongs deny,
Nor wafted brooks the thirsty flow'rs fupply;
If Delia fmile, the flow'rs begin to fpring,
The brooks to murmur, and the birds to fing.

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In fpring the fields, in autumn hills I love,
At morn the plains, at noon the fhady grove,
But Delia always; abfent from her fight,

Nor plains at morn, nor groves at noon delight. So

DAPHNIS.

Sylvia's like autumn ripe, yet mild as May,

More bright than noon, yet fresh as early day;
E'en fpring difpleafes, when fhe fhines not here;
But blefs'd with her, 'tis fpring throughout the year.

IMITATIONS.

VER. 69. All nature mourns,]

Aret ager, vitio moriens fitit aëris herba, &c.
Phyllidis adventu noftræ nemus omne virebit. Virg.

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STREPHON.

Say, Daphnis, fay, in what glad foil appears, 85 A wond'rous Tree that facred Monarchs bears: Tell me but this, and I'll disclaim the prize, And give the conqueft to thy Sylvia's eyes.

DAPHNI S.

Nay, tell me first, in what more happy fields
The Thistle springs, to which the Lily yields:
And then a noble prize I will refign;
For Sylvia, charming Sylvia, fhall be thine.

DAMON.

Ceafe to contend, for Daphnis, I decree, The bowl to Strephon, and the lamb to thee. Bleft Swains, whofe Nymphs in ev'ry grace excel; 95 Bleft Nymphs, whofe Swains thofe graces fing fo well! Now rife, and hafte to yonder woodbine bow'rs, A soft retreat from fudden vernal show'rs; The turf with rural dainties fhall be crown'd, While op'ning blooms diffuse their sweets around. 100 For fee! the gath'ring flocks to shelter tend, And from the Pleiads fruitful fhow'rs defcend.

NOT B S.

VER. 86. A wondrous Tree that facred Monarchs bears:] An allufion to the Royal Oak, in which Charles II. had been hid from the pursuit after the battle of Worcester.

IMITATIONS.

VER. 90. The Thistle Springs to which the Lily yields :] Alludes to the device of the Scots Monarchs, the Thistle, worn by Queen Anne; and to the arms of France, the Fleur de lys. The two riddles are in imitation of those in Virg. Ecl. iii.

Dic quibus in terris infcripti nomina Regum
Nafcantur Flores, et Phyllida folus hateto.

VARIATIONS.

VER. 99. was originally,

The turf with country dainties shall be spread,
And trees with twining branches fhade your head.

A Shepherd's Boy (he feeks no better name)

Led forth his flocks along the filver Thame,
Where dancing fun-beams on the waters play'd,
And verdant alders form'd a quiv'ring fhade.
Soft as he mourn'd, the ftreams forgot to flow,
The flocks around a dumb compaffion show,
The Naïads wept in ev'ry wat❜ry bow'r,
And Jove confented in a filent show'r.

VARIATIONS.

VER. 1, 2, 3, 4. were thus printed in the first edition ::
A faithful fwain, whom Love had taught to fing,
Bewail'd his fate befide a filver fpring;

Where gentle Thames his winding waters leads
Thro' verdant forefts, and thro' flow'ry meads.
VER. 3. Originally thus in the MS.

There to the winds he plain'd his hapless love,
And Amaryllis fill'd the vocal grove.

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NOTE S.

VER. 3. The Scene of this Paftoral by the river's fide: fuitable to the heat of the feafon; the time noon,

Accept, O GARTH, the Mufe's early lays,
That adds this wreath of ivy to thy bays;
Hear what from Love unpractis'd hearts-endure,
From Love, the fole difeafe thou canst not cure.

Ye fhady beeches, and ye cooling ftreams,
Defence from Phoebus', not from Cupid's beams,
Το you I mourn, nor to the deaf I fing,,
The woods shall answer, and their echo ring,
The hills and rocks attend my doleful lay,
Why art thou prouder and more hard than they?
The bleating sheep with my complaints agree,
They parch'd with heat, and I inflam'd by thee:
The fultry Sirius burns the thirty plains,
While in thy heart eternal winter reigns.

Where ftray ye, Mufes, in what lawn or grove,
While your Alexis pines in hopeless love?
In those fair fields where facred Ifis glides,
Or elfe where Cam his winding vales divides ?

<

IMITATIONS.

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VER. 8. And Jove confented]

Jupiter et læto defcendet plurimus imbri. Virg.

VER. 15. nor to the deaf I fing.]

Non canimus furdis, refpondent omnia fylvæ. Virg.
VIR. 23. Where fray ye, Mufes, etc.]

Quæ nemora, aut qui vos faltus habuere, puellæ
Naïdes, indigna cum Gallus amore periret?
Nam ne neque Parnaffi vobis juga, nam neque Pindi
Ulla moram fecere, neque Aonia Aganippe.

NOTES..

VER. 9. Dr. Samuel Garth, Author of the Difpenfary, was one of the first friends of the Author, whofe acquaintance with him began at fourteen or fifteen. Their friendship continued from the year 1703 to 1718, which was that of his death.

25

VER. 16. The woods shall answer, and their echo ring.] Is a line out of Spenser's Epithalamion.

Virg. out of Theocr

As in the crystal fpring I view my face,
Fresh rifing blushes paint the wat'ry glass;
But fince thofe graces please thy eyes no more,
I fhun the fountains which I fought before.
Once I was skill'd in ev'ry herb that grew,
And ev'ry plant that drinks the morning dew;
Ah, wretched fhepherd, what avails thy art,
To cure thy lambs, but not to heal thy heart!
Let other fwains attend the rural care,
Feed fairer flocks, or richer fleeces fheer:
But nigh yon' mountain let me tune my lays,
Embrace my Love, and bind my brows with bays.
That flute is mine which Colin's tuneful breath
Infpir'd when living, and bequeath'd in death:
He faid; Alexis, take this pipe, the same
That taught the groves my Rofalinda's name :
But now the reeds fhall hang on yonder tree,
For ever filent, fince defpis'd by thee.
Oh! were I made by fome transforming pow'r
The captive bird that fings within thy bow'r!

VARIATIONS.

VER. 27.

Oft in the crystal spring I caft a view,

And equall'd Hylas, if the glass be true;

But fince thofe graces meet my eyes no more,
I fhun, &c.

IMITATIONS.

VER. 27. Virgil again from the Cyclops of Theocritus,
nuper me in littore vidi,

Cum placidum ventis staret mare; non ego Daphnim,
Judice te, metuam, fi nunquam fallat imago.

VER. 40. bequeath'd in death, &c.] Virg. Ecl. ii.

Eft mihi difparibus feptem compacta cicutis
Fiftula, Damætas dono mihi quam dedit olim,
Et dixit moriens, Te nunc habet ifta fecundum.

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35

40

45

NOTES.

VER. 39. Colin.] The name taken by Spenfer in his Eclogues, here his miftrefs is celebrated under that of Rofalinda.