Page:Oxford Book of English Verse 1250-1918.djvu/209

 MICHAEL DRAYTON

Britons, you stay too long: Quickly aboard bestow you, And with a merry gale Swell your stretch *d sail With vows as strong

As the winds that blow you.

Your course securely steer,

West and by south forth keep! Rocks, lee-shores, nor shoals When Eolus scowls You need not fear, So absolute the deep.

And cheerfully at sea Success you still entice

To get the pearl and gold, And ours to hold

��Earth's only paradise.

Where nature hath in store Fowl, venison, and fish, And the fruitfull'st soil Without your toil Three harvests more,

All greater than your wish.

And the ambitious vine

Crowns with his purple mass The cedar reaching high To kiss the sky, The cypress, pine,

And useful sassafras.

�� �