Page:The Complete Poetical Works of John Milton.djvu/86

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��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,

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