50 And those pearls of dew she wears Gentle lady, may thy grave 60 70 VIII. SONG ON MAY MORNING. Now the bright morning star, day's harbinger, Hail, bounteous May, that dost inspire Hill and dale doth boast thy blessing. And welcome thee, and wish thee long. At a Vacation Exercise in the College, part Latin, part English. The Latin Speeches ended, the English thus began : before : 10 20 And, if it happen as I did forecast, 30 Such as may make thee search thy coffers round, Before thou clothe my fancy in fit sound: Such where the deep-transported mind may soar Above the wheeling poles, and at heaven's door Look in, and see each blissful deity, How he before the thunderous throne doth lie, Listening to what unshorn Apollo sings To the touch of golden wires, while Hebe brings Immortal nectar to her kingly sire; Then passing through the spheres of watchful fire, 40 And misty regions of wide air next under, And hills of snow, and lofts of piled thunder, May tell at length how green-eyed Neptune raves, In heaven's defiance mustering all his waves ; Then sing of secret things that came to pass When beldame Nature in her cradle was; 50 And last of kings, and queens, and heroes old, Then Ens is represented as father of the Predicaments, his ten sons; whereof the eldest stood for Substance, with his canons, which Ens, thus speaking, explains : Good luck befriend thee, son; for, at thy birth, The faëry ladies danced upon the hearth; 60 Thy drowsy nurse hath sworn she did them spy Come tripping to the room where thou didst lie, And, sweetly singing round about thy bed, Strew all their blessings on thy sleeping head. She heard them give thee this, that thou shouldst still From eyes of mortals walk invisible : Yet there is something that doth force my fear; For once it was my dismal hap to hear A sibyl old, bow-bent with crooked age, That far events full wisely could presage, 70 And, in time's long and dark prospective glass, Foresaw what future days should bring to pass; “ Your son,” said she, “(nor can you it prevent), Shall subject be to many an accident. O'er all his brethren he shall reign as king, Yet every one shall make him underling; |