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Sometimes with secure delight
The upland hamlets 40 will invite,
When the merry bells ring round,
And the jocund" rebecs 12 sound
To many a youth and many a maid,
Dancing in the chequer'd shade;
And young and old come forth to play
On a sunshine holiday,

Till the live-long daylight fail;

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Then to the spicy nut-brown ale,
With stories told of many a feat,
How fairy Mab 3 the junkets" ate;
She was pinch'd, and pull'd, she said,
And he by friar's lantern led;
Tells how the drudging goblin 7 sweat.
To earn his cream-bowl duly set,

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When in one night, ere glimpse of morn, His shadowy flail hath thresh'd the corn,

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That ten day labourers could not end;
Then lies him down the lubber fiend,
And stretch'd out all the chimney's length,
Basks at the fire his hairy strength;
And crop-full out of doors he flings,
Ere the first cock his matin rings.
Thus done the tales, to bed they creep,
By whispering winds soon lull'd to sleep.
Tow'red cities 48 please us then,
And the busy hum of men,

Where throngs of knights and barons bold
In weeds of peace high triumphs hold,
With store of ladies, whose bright eyes
Rain influence, and judge the prize
Of wit, or arms, while both 49 contend
To win her grace, whom all commend.
There let Hymen 50 oft appear

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In saffron robe with taper clear,
And pomp, and feast, and revelry,
With mask and antique pageantry;
Such sights as youthful poets dream,
On summer eves by haunted stream.
Then to the well-trod stage anon,
If Jonson's 53 learned sock 64 be on,
Or sweetest Shakespeare," Fancy's child,
Warble his native wood-notes wild.
And ever against eating cares
Lap me in soft Lydian airs,56
Married to immortal verse,

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Such as the melting soul may pierce,
In notes with many a winding bout
Of linked sweetness long drawn out,

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With wanton heed, and giddy cunning,
The melting voice through mazes running,
Untwisting all the chains that tie
The hidden soul of harmony;

That Orpheus' self may heave his head
From golden slumber on a bed

Of heap'd Elysian flowers, and hear
Such strains as would have won the ear
Of Pluto,58 to have quite set free
His half-regain'd Eurydice.

These delights if thou canst give,
MIRTH, with thee I mean to live.

• NOTES.

1 L'Allegro, the mirthful or cheerful
man. This poem is intended to
picture the cheerfulness and plea-
sure of such a man.

2 Loathed, detested, hated.
3 Melancholy. It is here addressed
as though it were a person.
4 Cerberus, the three-headed dog
that guarded the entrance of
Hades (the lower world).

5 Blackest midnight, Nox, the per-
sonification of night, represented
as the daughter of Chaos.
6 Stygian, hateful. An adjective
from STYX, the chief river of
Hades.

7 Ebon, dark, black, from ebony, the
name of a black wood.

8 Cimmerian. The Cimmerians were a people, according to Homer, who lived in a far-off western country of perpetual mists and darkness. "Cimmerian darkness" became a proverb.

9 Yclep'd, called.
10 Euphrosyne, the mirthful; one of
the three graces.

11 Nymphs. The nymphs (according
to ancient mythology) were fe-
male goddesses presiding over
different parts of nature; as the
woods, seas, rivers, mountains,
&c.
12 Quips, smart sayings or jokes,
13 Cranks, sayings having a lively

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32 Fallows, fields which have been ploughed, but which are left for a year or more before they are sown or tilled.

33 Labouring, moving slowly, as heavily laden.

34 Pied, of varied colour.

35 Towers and battlements, referring to the turreted castles so common in England at Milton's time. 36 Lies, lives, dwells.

37 Cynosure, the constellation of stars called the Lesser Bear, in which is the North Polar Star. 38 Messes, kinds of food.

39 Tann'd, made brown by the heat of the sun.

40 Hamlet, a very small village, literally a little house.

41 Jocund, merry, cheerful. 42 Rebec, a stringed musical instru ment something like a fiddle or guitar, with three strings, played on with a bow.

43 Mab, Queen of the fairies. 44 Junkets, country dainties or sweet

meats.

45 Friar's lantern, the ignis fatuus commonly known as "Will o' the Wisp," ""Jack o' Lantern."

46 Drudging, toiling, hard-working. 47 Goblin, a mischievous spirit. 43 Tower'd cities, towns with lofty or grand buildings.

49 Both, wit and arms.

50 Hymen, the god of marriage. 51 Saffron, deep yellow.

52 Well-tred stage, the theatre. 53 Ben Jonson (1574-1637), was the most learned of the dramatists of the reign of Queen Elizabeth. 54 Sock, a low-heeled light shoe, worn in ancient times by actors of comedy.

55 William Shakespeare (1564-1616), was the greatest of English dramatists and poets.

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Lydian airs, noted among the ancients as the most tender and sweet.

57 Orpheus, a fabulous Greek poet and singer among the Greeks.

58 Pluto, the god of the lower or infernal regions.

ALEXANDER'S FEAST.1

'Twas at the royal feast for Persia 2 won

By Philip's warlike son

Aloft, in awful state,

The god-like hero sat

On his imperial throne.

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His valiant peers were plac'd around; Their brows with roses and with myrtle bound: (So should desert in arms be crown'd.)

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The lovely Thais by his side,

Sate like a blooming Eastern bride,

In flower of youth and beauty's pride.-
Happy, happy, happy pair!

None but the brave,

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ΙΟ

None but the brave,

None but the brave deserve the fair.

Timotheus, plac'd on high

Amid the tuneful choir,

With flying fingers touched the lyre;
The trembling notes ascend the sky,
And heavenly joys inspire.-

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The list ning crowd admire the lofty sound:

A present deity ! they shout around !

A present deity! the vaulted roofs rebound.—

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Assumes the god,
Affects to nod,

And seems to shake the spheres.12

The praise of Bacchus,13 then, the sweet musician sung,

Of Bacchus, ever fair and ever young!

The jolly god in triumph comes!

Sound the trumpets! beat the drums!

Flush'd with a purple grace,

He shows his honest face,

Now give the hautboys 14 breath! he comes!

he comes!

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Drinking joys did first ordain;

Bacchus' blessing are a treasure;
Drinking is the soldier's pleasure:
Rich the treasure:

Sweet the pleasure;

Sweet the pleasure after pain.

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