Whom certain these rough shades did never breed,
Unless the goddess that, in rural shrine,
Dwell'st here with Pan or Silvan, by bless'd song
Forbidding ev'ry bleak unkindly fog

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To touch the prosp'rous growth of this tall wood.
Lady. Nay, gentle Shepherd! ill is lost that praise
That is address'd to unattending ears:

Not any boast of skill, but extreme shift
How to regain my sever'd company,
Compell'd me to awake the courteous Echo
To give me answer from her mossy couch.

Com. What chance, good Lady, hath bereft you thus?
Lady. Dim darkness and this leafy labyrinth. 331
Com. Could that divide you from near-ush'ring guides?
Lady. They left me weary on a grassy turf.

Com. "By falsehood or discourtesy, or why? "Lady." To seek i' th' valley some cool friendly spring.

Com. And left your fair side all unguarded, Lady! Lady. They were but twain, and purpos'd quick re

turn.

Com. "Perhaps forestalling night prevented them? Lady. "How easy my misfortune is to hit!" Com. Imports their loss beside the present need? Lady. No less than if I should my brothers lose. 341 Com. Were they of manly prime or youthful bloom? Lady. As smooth as Hebe's their unrazor'd lips. Com. Two such I saw "what time the labour'd ox "In his loose traces from the furrow came, "And the swink't hedger at his supper sat;

"I saw them" under a

green" mantling vine,

That crawls along the side of yon' small hill,

Plucking ripe clusters from the tender shoots :

Their port was more than human ; "as they stood "I took it for a fairy vision

"Of some gay creatures of the element,

That in the colours of the rainbow live,

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"And play i' th' plighted clouds. I was awe-struck,. "And as I pass'd I worshipp'd:" if those you seek It were a journey like the path to heav'n To help you find them.

Lady. Gentle Villager,

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What readiest way would bring me to that place? Com. "Due west it rises from this shrubby paint: 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-practis'd feet.” Com. I know each lane and ev'ry alley green, Dingle or bushy dell, of this wide wood, "And ev'ry bosky bourn from side to side,” My daily walks and ancient neighbourhood; And if your stray attendants be yet lodg'd, Or shroud within these limits, I shall know Ere morrow wake, "or the low-roosted lark "From her thatch'd pallat rouse: if" otherwise,

I can conduct you Lady to a low

But loyal cottage, where you may be safe

Till farther quest.

Lady. Shepherd, I take thy word,

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And trust thy honest offer'd courtesy,

"Which oft' is sooner found in lowly sheds "With smoky rafters, than in tap'stry halls

"And courts of princes, where it first was nam'd, 380
"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, bless'd Providence, and square my trial
To my proportion'd strength-Shepherd, lead on.

Enter COMUS' Crew from behind the trees.

SONG. By a Man.

[Exeunt.

Fly swiftly, ye Minutes! till Comus receive
The nameless soft transports that beauty can give;
The bowl's frolick joys let him teach her to prove,
And she in return yield the raptures of love.

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Without love and wine, wit and beauty are vain,
All grandeur insipid, and riches a pain,
The most splendid palace grows dark as the grave:
Love and wine give, ye Gods, or take back what you gave.

CHORUS.

Away, away, away,

To Comus' court repair;

There night outshines the day,

There yields the melting fair.

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ACT II.

"Enter the two BROTHERS.

"Elder Brother.

UNMUFFLE, ye faint Stars! and thou, fair Moon! "That wont'st to love the traveller's benison,

Stoop thy pale visage thro' an amber cloud, "And disinherit Chaos, that reigns here

"In double night of darkness and of shades;
"Or if your influence be quite damm'd up
"With black usurping mists, some gentle taper,
"Tho' a rush candle, from the wicker-hole
"Of some clay habitation, visit us

ΙΟ

"With thy long levell'd rule of streaming light, 10 "And thou shalt be our star of Arcady "Or Tyrian Cynosure.

Y. Bro. "Or, if our eyes

"Be barr'd that happiness, might we but hear "The folded flocks penn'd in their wattled cotes, "Or sound of past'ral reed with oaten stops, "Or whistle from the lodge, or village cock "Count the night-watches to his feathery dames, ""Twould be some solace yet, some little cheering, "In this close dungeon of innum'rous boughs. "But oh! that hapless virgin, our lost sister! "Where may she wander now, whither betake her "From the chill dew, amongst rude burs and thistles? "Perhaps some cold bank is her bolster now,

20

"Or 'gainst the rugged bark of some broad elm "Leans her unpillow'd head, fraught with sad fears: "What if in wild amazement and affright? "Or, while we speak, within the direful grasp "Of savage hunger or of savage heat?

E. Bro. “Peace brother; be not over exquisite 30 "To cast the fashion of uncertain evils;

"For, grant they be so, while they rest unknown
"What need a man forestal his date of grief,
"And run to meet what he would most avoid?
"Of if they be but false alarms of fear
"How bitter is such self-delusion!

"I do not think my sister so to seek,
"Or so unprincipled in virtue's book,

"And the sweet peace that goodness bosoms ever, "As that the single want of light and noise

"(Not being in danger, as I trust she is not)

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"Could stir the constant mood of her calm thoughts, "And put them into misbecoming plight. "Virtue could see to do what Virtue would

"By her own radiant light tho' sun and moon "Were in the flat sea sunk; and Wisdom's self "Oft' seeks to sweet retired solitude, "Where with her best nurse, Contemplation, "She plumes her feathers and lets grow her wings, "That in the various bustle of resort "Were allto ruffled, and sometimes impair'd. "He, that has light within his own clear breast, "May sit i' th' centre and enjoy bright day; "But he, that hides a dark soul and foul thoughts,

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