They, rich in pilfer'd spoils, indulg'd their mirth,
And pity'd the huge wretched fons of earth.
Even now, 'tis faid, the hinds o'erheard their ftrain,
And strive to view their airy forms in vain :
They to their cells at man's approach repair,
Like the fhy leveret, or the mother hare,
The whilft poor mortals ftartle at the found
Of unfeen footsteps on the haunted ground.
Amid this garden, then with woods o'ergrown,

Stood the lov'd feat of royal Oberon.

From every region to his palace gate

Came peers and princes of the fairy ftate,
Who, rank'd in council round the facred fhade,
Their monarch's will and great behefts obey'd.
From Thame's fair banks, by lofty tow'rs adorn'd,
With loads of plunder oft his chiefs return'd:
Hence in proud robes, and colours bright and gay,
Shone every knight and every lovely fay.
Whoe'er on Powell's dazzling ftage display'd
Hath fam'd king Pepin and his court furvey'd,
May guefs, if old by modern things we trace,
The
pomp and fplendor of the fairy race.

By magic fenc'd, by fpells encompass'd round,
No mortal touch'd this interdicted ground;

No mortal enter'd, thofe alone who came
Stolen from the couch of some terrestrial dame:
For oft of babes they robb'd the matron's bed,
And left fome fickly changeling in their stead.

It chanc'd a youth of Albion's royal blood
Was fofter'd here, the wonder of the wood;
Milkah, for wiles above her peers renown'd,
Deep-skill'd in charms and many a mystic sound,
As through the regal dome fhe fought for prey,
Obferv'd the infant Albion where he lay
In mantles broider'd o'er with gorgeous pride,
And stole him from the fleeping mother's fide.
Who now but Milkah triumphs in her mind!
Ah wretched nymph, to future evils blind!
The time shall come when thou fhalt dearly pay
The theft, hard-hearted! of that guilty day :

Thou in thy turn fhalt like the queen repine,
And all her forrows doubled shall be thine:
He who adorns thy house, the lovely boy
Who now adorns it, fhall at length destroy.

Two hundred moons in their pale course had seen

The gay-rob'd fairies glimmer on the green,
And Albion now had reach'd in youthful prime
To nineteen years, as mortals measure time.

Flufh'd with refiftlefs charms he fir'd to love
Each nymph and little Dryad of the grove;
For skilful Milkah fpar'd not to employ
Her utmost art to rear the princely boy:
Each fupple limb fhe fwaith'd, and tender bone,
And to the Elfin standard kept him down :
She robb'd dwarf-elders of their fragrant fruit,
And fed him early with the daify's root,

Whence through his veins the powerful juices ran,
And form'd in beauteous miniature the Man.

Yet ftill, two inches taller than the reft,

His lofty port his human birth confefs'd;

A foot in height, how stately did he show!
How look fuperior on the crowd below!

What knight like him could tofs the rushy launce!.
Who move fo graceful in the mazy dance!

A fhape fo nice, or features half so fair,

What elf could boaft! or fuch a flow of hair!
Bright Kenna faw, a princess born to reign,

And felt the charmer burn in every vein.

She, heiress to this empire's potent lord,

Prais'd like the stars, and next the moon ador'd.

She, whom at distance thrones and princedoms view'd,

To whom proud Oriel and Azuriel fu’d,

In

In her high palace languish'd, void of joy,
And pin'd in fecret for a mortal boy.

He too was smitten, and discreetly strove
By courtly deeds to gain the virgin's love;
For her he cull'd the faireft flowers that grew,
Ere morning funs had drain'd their fragrant dew
He chas'd the hornet in his mid-day flight,

And brought her glow-worms in the noon of night;
When on ripe fruits fhe caft a wishing eye,
Did ever Albion think the tree too high!

He show'd her where the pregnant goldfinch hung,
And the wren-mother brooding o'er her young;
To her th' infcription on their eggs he read,
(Admire, ye clerks, the youth whom Milkah bred)
To her he show'd each herb of virtuous juice,
Their powers diftinguish'd, and defcrib'd their use:
All vain their powers, alas! to Kenna prove,
And well fung Ovid, There's no herb for love.
As when a ghost, enlarg'd from realms below,
Seeks its old friend to tell fome fecret woe,
The poor fhade shivering stands, and must not break
His painful filence, till the mortal speak;
So far'd it with the little love-fick maid,

Forbid to utter what her eyes betray'd.

He

He saw her anguish, and reveal'd his flame,
And spar'd the blushes of the tongue-ty'd dame.
The day would fail me, fhould I reckon o'er
The fighs they lavish'd, and the oaths they swore;
In words fo melting, that, compar'd with those,
The nicest courtship of terrestrial beaus

Would found like compliments from country-clowns
To red-cheek'd fweet-hearts in their home-spun gowns.
All in a lawn of many a various hue,

A bed of flowers (a fairy foreft) grew;

'Twas here one noon, the gaudieft of the May,
The ftill, the fecret, filent hour of day,
Beneath a lofty tulip's ample shade

Sate the young lover and th' immortal maid.
They thought all fairies flept, ah lucklefs pair!
Hid, but in vain, in the fun's noon-tide glare!
When Albion leaning on his Kenna's breast,
Thus all the foftness of his foul exprefs'd.

All things are hufh'd. The fun's meridian rays

• Veil the horizon in one mighty blaze;

'Nor moon nor ftar in heav'n's blue arch is seen

With kindly rays to filver o'er the green.

'Grateful to fairy eyes; they fecret take Their reft, and only wretched mortals wake.

• This