44
��POEMS WRITTEN AT HORTON
��And m sweet madness robbed it of itself; But such a sacred and home-felt delight, Such sober certainty of waking bliss, I never heard till now. I '11 speak to her, And she shall be my Queen. Hail, for- eign wonder ! Whom certain these rough shades did
never breed,
Unless the Goddess that in rural shrine Dwell'st here with Pan or Sylvan, by blest
song
Forbidding every bleak unkindly fog To touch the prosperous growth of this tall wood. 270
Lady. Nay, gentle shepherd, ill is lost
that praise
That is addressed to unattending ears. Not any boast of skill, but extreme shift How to regain my severed company, Compelled me to awake the courteous
Echo
To give me answer from her mossy couch. Camus. What chance, good Lady, hath
bereft you thus ? Lady. Dim darkness and this leavy
labyrinth.
Comus. Could that divide you from near- ushering guides ?
Lady. They left me weary on a grassy
turf. 280
Comus. By falsehood, or discourtesy, or
why? Lady. To seek i' the valley some cool
friendly spring.
Comus. And left your fair side all un- guarded, Lady ?
Lady. They were but twain, and pur- posed quick return.
Comus. Perhaps forestalling night pre- vented them. Lady. How easy my misfortune is to
hit! Comus. Imports their loss, beside the
present need ?
Lady. No less than if I should my bro- thers lose. Comus. Were they of manly prime, or
youthful bloom ?
Lady. As smooth as Hebe's their un- razored lips. 290 Comus. Two such I saw, what time the
laboured ox
In his loose traces from the furrow came, And the swinked hedger at his supper sat. I saw them under a green mantling vine,
��That crawls along the side of you small hill, Plucking ripe clusters from the tender
shoots ; Their port was more than human, as they
stood.
I took it for a faery vision Of some gay creatures of the element, That in the colours of the rainbow live, 300 And play i' the plighted clouds. I was
awe-strook, And, as I passed, I worshiped. If those
you seek,
It were a journey like the path to Heaven To help you find them.
Lady. Gentle villager,
What readiest way would bring me to that
place ? Comus. Due west it rises from this
shrubby point. Lady. To find out that, good Shepherd,
I suppose,
In such a scant allowance of star-light, Would overtask the best land-pilot's art, Without the sure guess of well-practised
feet. 310
Comus. I know each lane, and every
alley green,
Dingle, or bushy dell, of this wild wood, And every bosky bourn from side to side, My daily walks and ancient neighbourhood ; And, if your stray attendance be yet lodged, Or shroud within these limits, I shall know Ere morrow wake, or the low-roosted lark From her thatched pallet rouse. If other- wise,
I can conduct you, Lady, to a low 3 19
But loyal cottage, where you may be safe Till further quest.
Lady. Shepherd, I take thy word,
And trust thy honest-offered courtesy, Which oft is sooner found in lowly sheds, With smoky rafters, than in tapestry halls And courts of princes, where it first was
named,
And yet is most pretended. In a place Less warranted than this, or less secure, I cannot be, that I should fear to change it. Eye me, blest Providence, and square my
trial To my proportioned strength ! Shepherd,
lead on. ... 330
The Two BROTHERS.
Eld. Bro. Unmuffle, ye faint stars ; and thou, fair Moon,
�� �
