Frames many a fonnet to her name,
(As lovers use to exprefs their flame)
Or pining wan with thoughtful care,
In downcast filence feeds Defpair ;
Or when the air dead ftillness keeps,
And Cynthia on the water fleeps;
Charms the dull ear of fober night,
With love-born Mufic's fweet delight.
Oft as thy orb performs its round,
Thou liftenest to the various found
Of Shepherds hopes and Maidens fears.
(Those confcious Cynthia filent hears
While Echo, which ftill loves to mock,
Bears them about from rock to rock).
But shift we now the penfive scene,
Where Cynthia filvers o'er the green.
Mark yonder spot, whofe equal rim
Forms the green circle quaint and trim;
Hither the Fairies blithe advance,
And lightly trip in mazy dance;
Beating the panfie-paven ground
In frolic measures round and round;
Thefe Cynthia's Revels gaily keep,
While lazy mortals fnore asleep;
Whom oft they vifit in the night,
Not vifible to human fight;
And as old prattling Wives relate,
Tho' now the fashion's out of date,
Drop fixpence in the Housewife's fhoe,
And pinch the Slattern black and blue.
They fill the mind with airy fchemes,
And bring the Ladies pleafant dreams.
Who knows not Mab, whofe chariot glides,
And athwart men's nofes rides?
While Oberon, blithe Fairy, trips,
And hovers o'er the ladies lips;
And when he fteals ambrofial blifs,
And foft imprints the charming kifs,
In Dreams the nymph her fwain purfues,
Nor thinks 'tis Oberon that wooes.
When all things elfe in filence sleep,
The blithsome Elfs their vigils keep,
And always hover round about,
To find our worth or frailties out.
Receive with joy these Elfin sparks,
Their kiffes leave no tell-tale marks,
But breathe fresh beauty o'er the face,
Where all is virtue, all is grace.
Not only elfin fays delight
To hail the fober Queen of Night,
But that sweet bird, whofe gurgling throat
Warbles the thick melodious note,
Duly as evening fhades prevail,
Renews her foothing love-lorn tale.
And as the Lover penfive goes,
Chaunts out her fymphony of woes.
Which in boon Nature's wilder tone,
Beggar all founds which Art has known.
But hift the melancholy bird
Among the groves no more is heard ;
And Cynthia pales her filver ray
Before th' approach of golden Day,
Which on yon mountain's misty height
Stands tiptoe with his gladfome light.
Now the fhrill lark in æther floats,
And carols wide her liquid notes;
While Phoebus, in his lufty pride,
His flaming beams flings far and wide.
Cynthia farewell-the penfive Mufe
No more her feeble flight pursues,
But all unwilling takes her way,
And mixes with the buzz of Day:
E fhepherds fo careless and gay,
Who fport with the nymphs of the plain,
Take heed left frolic away,
The peace you can never regain.
Let not Folly your bofoms annoy;
And of Love, the dear mischief, beware.
You may think 'tis all funshine and joy,
-I know 'tis o'ershadow'd with care.
Love's morning how blithsome it fhines,
With an aspect deceitfully fair;
Its day oft in forrow declines,
And it fets in the night of defpair.
Hope paints the gay fcene to the fight,
While Fancy her vifions beftows,
And gilds every dream with delight,
But to wake us to fenfible woes.
How hard is my lot to complain
Of a nymph whom I yet muft adore, Tho' fhe love not her fhepherd again,
Her Damon must love her the more. For it was not the pride of her sex,
That treated his vows with difdain, For it was not the pleafure to vex,
That made her delude her fond fwain.
'Twas His, the fair nymph to behold,
He hop'd-and he rafhly believ’d.
'Twas Hers to be fatally cold;
-He lov'd-and was fondly deceiv'd. · ́.
For fuch is of lovers the doom,
While paffions their reafon beguile,
'Tis warrant enough to prefume,
If they catch but a look or a smile.
Yet furely my Phillis would feem
To prize me most shepherds above; But that might be only esteem,
While I foolishly conftrued it love.
Yet others, like Damon, believ'd
The nymph might have favour'd her fwain,
And others, like Him, were deceiv'd,
Like Him, tho' they cannot complain.
Of Phyllis was always my fong,
For fhe was my pride and my care; And the folks, as we wander'd along, Would call us the conjugal pair.
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