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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-fkill'd in charms and many a mystic found,
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 fhall come when thou shalt dearly pay
The theft, hard-hearted! of that guilty day:
Thou in thy turn fhalt like the queen repine,
And all her forrows doubled fhall be thine
He who adorns thy houfe, the lovely boy
Who now adorns it, fhall at length deftroy.

:

Two hundred moons in their pale courfe had feen 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 fkilful Milkah spar'd not to employ Her utmoft art to rear the princely boy; Each fupple limb fhe fwath'd, and tender bone, And to the Elfin ftandard kept him down; She robb'd dwarf-elders of their fragrant fruit, And fed him early with the daify's root,

Whence

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

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

A fhape fo nice, or features half fo 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, heirefs to this empire's potent lord,
Prais'd like the ftars, and next the moon ador'd,
She, whom at diftance thrones and princedoms view`d,
To whom proud Oriel and Azuriel fued,

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

He too was fmitten, and difcreetly 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 chac'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 wifhing eye,

Did ever Albion think the tree too high
He fhow'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)

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To her he fhow'd each herb of virtuous juice,
Their powers distinguish'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 ghoft, enlarg'd from realms below,
Seeks its old friend to tell fome fecret woe,
The poor fhade fhivering ftands, 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 faw 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 beaux

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

A bed of flowers (a fairy forest) grew;

'Twas here one noon, the gaudiest of the May,
The ftill, the fecret, filent, hour of day,

Beneath a lofty tulip's ample shade

Sat 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 foftnefs of his foul expreft:

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

• Veil the horizon in one mighty blaze:

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Nor moon nor ftar in heaven's blue arch is feen • With kindly rays to filver o'er the green, Grateful to fairy eyes; they fecret take

‹ Their reft, and only wretched mortals wake. This dead of day I fly to thee alone,

A world to me, a multitude in one.

Oh, fweet as dew-drops on these flowery lawns,
When the sky opens, and the evening dawns!
Straight as the pink, that towers fo high in air,
Soft as the blow-bell! as the daisy, fair!
Bleft be the hour, when firft I was convey'd
An infant captive to this blissful shade!
And bleft the hand that did my form refine,
And fhrunk my
ftature to a match with thine!
Glad I for thee renounce my royal birth,
And all the giant-daughters of the earth.
Thou, if thy breast with equal ardour burn,
• Renounce thy kind, and love for love return.
So from us two, combin'd by nuptial ties,
• A race unknown of demi-gods shall rise.

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O fpeak, my love! my vows with vows repay,
And sweetly fwear my rifing fears away.'
To whom (the shining azure of her eyes

More brighten'd) thus th' enamour'd maid replies:
‹ By all the ftars, and first the glorious moon,
I fwear, and by the head of Oberon,

A dreadful oath! no prince of fairy line

• Shall e'er in wedlock plight his vows with mine.

• Where-e'er my footsteps in the dance are seen,

May toadstools rife, and mildews blast the green,

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May the keen eaft-wind blight my favourite flowers, And fnakes and spotted adders haunt my bowers. ⚫ Confin'd whole ages in an hemlock fhade There rather pine I a neglected maid,

Or worse, exil'd from Cynthia's gentle rays,
Parch in the fun a thoufand fummer-days,
‹ Than any prince, a prince of fairy line,

In facred wedlock plight his vows with mine.'
She ended and with lips of rofy hue

:

Dip'd five times over in ambrofial dew,

Stifled his words. When, from his covert rear'd,
The frowning brow of Oberon appear'd.

A fun-flower's trunk was near, whence (killing fight!)
The monarch'd iffued, half an ell in height:

Full on the pair a furious look he cast,

Nor spoke; but gave his bugle-horn a blast
That through the woodland echoed far and wide,
And drew a fwarm of fubjects to his fide.
A hundred chofen knights, in war renown'd,
Drive Albion banish'd from the facred ground;
And twice ten myriads guard the bright abodes,
Where the proud king, amidst his demi-gods,
For Kenna's fudden bridal bids prepare,
And to Azuriel gives the weeping fair.

If fame in arms, with antient birth combin'd,
A faultless beauty, and a spotless mind,
To love and praise can generous fouls incline,
That love, Azuriel, and that praise, was thine.
Blood, only less than royal, fill'd thy veins,
Proud was thy roof, and large thy fair domains.

Where

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