Page:The Poems of John Dyer (1903).djvu/72

 And cast about their gibes ; and some apace Whistle to roundelays : their little ones Look on delighted ; while the mountain-woods And winding valleys with the various notes Of pipe, sheep, kine, and birds, and liquid brooks, Unite their echoes : near at hand the wide Majestic wave of Severn slowly rolls Along the deep-divided glebe : the flood, And trading bark with low contracted sail, Linger among the reeds and copsy banks To listen, and to view the joyous scene. Now of the sever'd lock begin the song With various numbers, thro' the simple theme To win attention : this, ye Shepherd Swains ! This is a labour. Yet, O Wray ! if thou Cease not with skilful hand to point her way, The lark-wing'd Muse above the grassy vale, And hills, and woods, shall, singing soar aloft ; And he whom learning, wisdom, candour, grace, Who glows with all the virtues of his sire, Royston ! approve, and patronise the strain. Thro' all the brute creation none as sheep To lordly man such ample tribute pay. For him their udders yield nectareous streams ; For him their downy vestures they resign ; For him they spread the feast : ah ! ne'er may he Glory in wants which doom to pain and death