Page:The Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets, Volume 3.djvu/95

Rh He sung how some, chill'd in their airy flight, Fall scatter'd down in pearly dew by night. How some, rais'd higher, sit in secret steams On the reflected points of bounding beams; Till, chill'd with cold, they shade th' etherial plain, Then on the thirsty earth descend in rain. How some, whose parts a slight contexture show, Sink hovering through the air, in fleecy snow. How part is spun in silken threads, and clings Entangled in the grass in glewy strings. How others stamp to stones, with rushing sound Fall from their crystal quarries to the ground. How some are laid in trains, that kindled fly In harmless fires by night, about the sky. How some in winds blow with impetuous force, And carry ruin where they bend their course: While some conspire to form a gentle breeze, To fan the air, and play among the trees. How some, enraged, grow turbulent and loud, Pent in the bowels of a frowning cloud; That cracks, as if the axis of the world Was broke, and heaven's bright towers were downwards hurl'd. He sung how earth's wide ball, at Jove’s command, Did in the midst on airy columns stand; And how the soul of plants, in prison held, And bound with sluggish fetters, lies conceal'd, Till with the spring's warm beams, almost releas'd From the dull weight, with which it lay opprest,