Page:Hesperides Vol 2.djvu/335



Fol. 1 is blank; fol. 2 occupied by the title-page; ff. 3, 4 (verso blank) by a letter "To the Reader," signed: "Yours hereafter, If now approved on, R. S.," beginning: "Courteous Reader, I present thee here with the Description of the King of the Fayries, of his Attendants, Apparel, Gesture, and Victuals, which though comprehended in the brevity of so short a volume, yet as the Proverbe truely averres, it hath as mellifluous and pleasing discourse, as that whose amplitude contains the fulnesse of a bigger composition"; on fol. 5 (verso blank) occurs the following poem [spelling here modernised]:&mdash;

Deep-skilled Geographers, whose art and skill

Do traverse all the world, and with their quill

Declare the strangeness of each several clime,

The nature, situation, and the time

Of being inhabited, yet all their art

And deep informèd skill could not impart

In what set climate of this Orb or Isle,

The King of Fairies kept, whose honoured style

Is here inclosed, with the sincere description

Of his abode, his nature, and the region

In which he rules: read, and thou shalt find

Delightful mirth, fit to content thy mind.

May the contents thereof thy palate suit,