Page:Essays - Abraham Cowley (1886).djvu/112

 The lute itself, which once was green and mute,
 * When Orpheus struck the inspirèd lute,
 * The trees danced round, and understood
 * By sympathy the voice of wood.

These are the spells that to kind sleep invite, And nothing does within resistance make;
 * Which yet we moderately take;
 * Who would not choose to be awake,

While he's encompassed round with such delight; To the ear, the nose, the'touch, the taste and sight? When Venus would her dear Ascanius keep A prisoner in the downy bands of sleep, She odorous herbs and flowers beneath him spread,
 * As the most soft and sweetest bed;

Not her own lap would more have charmed his head. Who that has reason and his smell Would not among roses and jasmine dwell, Rather than all his spirits choke' With exhalations of dirt and smoke,