AMYNTAS.
59
I like not speculation; I will make
A female, but a pertinent transition,
And pass to woman's easy narrative.
To tell thee truth, I question much that Sylvia
Is in the tender art so unenlightened,
As from her words, and conduct she appears.
Her yesterday's behaviour caused my doubts.
I chanced to find her near the spacious meadow,
Adjacent to the city; in that meadow
Thou knowest there is a small peninsula,
Cloathed with a verdant turf, and gay with flowers;
'Tis almost by the large transparent lake
Surrounded. By this lake was Sylvia seated;
She stooped intently o'er the limpid mirror,
Admiring, as I thought, her image there.
She seemed consulting, too, the faithful water;
How with most grace she might collect her hair,
How best adorn it with the gifts of Flora,
Which on her lap in rich profusion lay.
She took by turns the lily, pink, and rose,
A female, but a pertinent transition,
And pass to woman's easy narrative.
To tell thee truth, I question much that Sylvia
Is in the tender art so unenlightened,
As from her words, and conduct she appears.
Her yesterday's behaviour caused my doubts.
I chanced to find her near the spacious meadow,
Adjacent to the city; in that meadow
Thou knowest there is a small peninsula,
Cloathed with a verdant turf, and gay with flowers;
'Tis almost by the large transparent lake
Surrounded. By this lake was Sylvia seated;
She stooped intently o'er the limpid mirror,
Admiring, as I thought, her image there.
She seemed consulting, too, the faithful water;
How with most grace she might collect her hair,
How best adorn it with the gifts of Flora,
Which on her lap in rich profusion lay.
She took by turns the lily, pink, and rose,
And
