Page:The Poems of John Dyer (1903).djvu/51



care of sheep, the labours of the loom, And arts of trade, I sing. Ye rural Nymphs! Ye Swains, and princely Merchants! aid the verse. And ye, high-trusted Guardians of our Isle Whom public voice approves, or lot of birth, To the great charge assigns! ye Good of all Degrees, all sects! be present to my song. So may distress, and wretchedness, and want, The wide felicities of labour learn: So may the proud attempts of restless Gaul From our strong borders, like a broken wave, In empty foam retire. But chiefly Thou, The people's Shepherd, eminently plac'd