But with a pace more sober, and more slow:
And twenty, rank in rank, they rode a-row.
The pursuivants came next, in number more;
And, like the heralds, each his scutcheon bore :
Clad in white velvet all their troop they led,
With each an oaken chaplet on his head.

Nine royal knights in equal rank succeed,
Each warrior mounted on a fiery steed:
In golden armour glorious to behold;

The rivets of their arms were nail'd with gold.
Their surcoats of white ermine-fur were made:

With cloth of gold between, that cast a glittering shade.
The trappings of their steeds were of the same;
The golden fringe ev'n set the ground on flame,
And drew a precious trail: a crown divine
Of laurel, did about their temples twine.

Three henchmen were for every knight assign'd,
All in rich livery clad, and of a kind:
White velvet, but unshorn, for cloaks they wore,
And each within his hand a truncheon bore:
The foremost held a helm of rare device;
A prince's ransom would not pay the price:
The second bore the buckler of his knight;
The third, of cornel-wood, a spear upright,
Headed with piercing steel, and polish'd bright.
Like to their lords, their equipage was seen,
And all their foreheads crown'd with garlands green.

And after these, came arm'd with spear and shield,
A host so great, as cover'd all the field:

And all their foreheads, like the knights before,
With laurels ever green were shaded o'er,
Or oak, or other leaves of lasting kind,

Tenacious of the stem, and firm against the wind.
Some in their hands, beside the lance and shield,
The boughs of woodbine or of hawthorn held,
Or branches for their mystic emblems took
Of palm, of laurel, or of cerrial oak.
Thus marching to the trumpet's lofty sound,
Drawn in two lines adverse they wheel'd around,
And in the middle meadow took their ground.
Among themselves the tourney they divide,
In equal squadrons, rang'd on either side.
Then turn'd their horses' heads, and man to man,
And steed to steed oppos'd, the justs began.

}

They lightly set their lances in the rest,
And, at the sign, against each other press'd:
They met; I, sitting at my ease, beheld
The mix'd events and fortunes of the field.
Some broke their spears, some tumbled horse and

man,

And round the fields the lighten'd coursers ran,
An hour and more; like tides, in equal sway
They rusn'd, and won by turns and lost the day.
At length the nme (who still together held)
Their fainting foes to shameful flight compell'd,
And with resistless force o'erran the field.
Thus, to their fame, when finish'd was the fight,
The victors from their lofty steeds alight:
Like them dismounted all the warlike train,
And two by two proceeded o'er the plain :
Till to the fair assembly they advanc'd,
Who, near the secret arbour, sung and danc'd.

The ladies left their measures at the sight,
To meet the chiefs returning from the fight,

And each, with open arms, embrac'd her chosen knight.
Amid the plain a spreading laurel stood,

The grace and ornament of all the wood:

That pleasing shade they sought, a soft retreat

From sudden April showers, a shelter from the heat.
Her leafy arms with such extent were spread,
So near the clouds was her aspiring head,
That host of birds that wing the liquid air,
Perch'd in the boughs, had nightly lodging there :
And flocks of sheep beneath the shade from far
Might hear the rattling hail, and wintry war;
From Heaven's inclemency here found retreat,
Enjoy'd the cool, and shun'd the scorching heat:
A hundred knights might there at ease abide;
And every knight a lady by his side:

The trunk itself such odours did bequeath,

}

That a Moluccan breeze to these was common breath.
The lords and ladies here approaching, paid
Their homage, with a low obeisance made:
And seem'd to venerate the sacred shade.
These rites perform'd, their pleasures they pursue
With songs of love, and mix with measures new;
Around the holy tree their dance they frame
And every champion leads his chosen dame.

I cast my sight upon the further field,
And a fresh object of delight beheld:
For, from the region of the west, I heard
New music sound, and a new troop appear'd
Of knights and ladies mix'd, a jolly Land;
But all on foot they march'd, and hand in hand.

}

The ladies dress'd in rich simars were seen
Of Florence satin, flower'd with white and green,
And for a shade betwixt the bloomy gridelin.
The borders of their petticoats below
Were guarded thick with rubies on a row;
And every damsel wore upon her head
Of flowers a garland, blended white and red.
Attir'd in mantles all the knights were seen,
That gratified the view with cheerful green:
Their chaplets of their ladies' colours were,
Compos'd of white and red, to shade their shining hair.
Before the merry troop the minstrels play'd;
All in their master's liveries were array'd,
And clad in green; and on their temples wore
The chaplets white and red their ladies bore.
Their instruments were various in their kind

Some for the bow, and some for breathing wind:
The psaltery, pipe, and hautboy's noisy band,

And the soft lute trembling beneath the touching hand.
A tuft of daisies on a flowery lay

They saw, and thitherward they bent their way:

To this both knights and dames their homage made, And due obeisance to the daisy paid.

And then the band of flutes began to play,

To which a lady sung a virelay;

And still at every close she would repeat

The burden of the song, The daisy is so sweet.'
The daisy is so sweet,' when she begun,

The troop of knights and dames continued on.
The concert and the voice so charm'd my ear,
And sooth'd my soul, that it was heaven to hear.
But soon their pleasure pass'd: at noon of day
The sun with sultry beams began to play :
Not Sirius shoots a fiercer flame from high,
When with his poisonous breath he blasts the sky:
Then droop'd the fading flowers (their beauty fled,)
And clos'd their sickly eyes, and hung the head;
And, rivell d up with heat, lay dying in their bed.

The ladies gasp d, and scarcely could respire;
The breath they drew, no longer air, but fire;
The fainty knights were scorch'd; and knew not where
To run for shelter, for no shade was near.
And after this the gathering clouds amain,
Pour'd down a storm of rattling hail and rain,
And lightning flash'd betwixt: the field and flow'rs
Burnt up before, were buried in the show'rs.
The ladies and the knights, no shelter nigh,
Bare to the weather, and the wintry sky,
Were dropping wet, disconsolate and wan,
And through their thin array receiv'd the rain.

While those in white, protected by the tree,
Saw pass the vain assault, and stood from danger free.
But as compassion mov'd their gentle minds,
When ceas'd the storm, and silent were the winds,
Displeas'd at what, not suffering, they had seen,
They went to cheer the faction of the green.
The queen in white array before her band,
Saluting, took her rival by the hand;

So did the knights and dames, with courtly grace,
And with behaviour sweet their foes embrace.
Then thus the queen with laurel on her brow :
Fair sister, I have suffer'd in your woe,
Nor shall be wanting aught within my pow'r
For your relief in my refreshing bow'r.'
That other answer'd with a lowly look,
And soon the gracious invitation took:
For ill at ease, both she and all her train

The scorching sun had borne, and beating rain;

Like courtesy was us'd by all in white,

Each dame a dame receiv'd, and every knight a knight.

The laurel-champions with their swords invade

The neighbouring forests, where the justs were made,
And sere wood from the rotten hedges took,

And seeds of latent fire from flints provoke :

A cheerful blaze arose, and by the fire

They warm'd their frozen feet, and dried their wet attire. Refresh'd with heat, the ladies sought around

For virtuous herbs, which gather'd from the ground They squeez'd the juice, and cooling ointment made, Which on their sun-burnt cheeks, and their chapt skins

they laid:

Then sought green salads which they bade them eat,
A sovereign remedy for inward heat

The lady of the leaf ordain'd a feast,

And made the lady of the flower her guest:
When lo! a bower ascended on the plain,

With sudden seats adorn'd, and large for either train.
This bower was near my pleasant arbour plac'd,
That I could hear and see whatever pass'd.
The ladies sate, with each a knight between,
Distinguish'd by their colours, white and green:
The vanquish'd party with the victor's join'd,
Nor wanted sweet discourse-the banquet of the mind.
Meantime, the minstrels play'd on either side,
Vain in their art, and for the mastery vied:
The sweet contention lasted for an hour,
And reach'd my secret arbour from the bow'r.
The sun was set; and Vesper, to supply
His absent beam, had lighted up the sky;
When Philomel, officious all the day
To sing the service of the' ensuing May
Fled from her laurel-shade, and wing'd her flight
Directly to the queen array'd in white;
And hopping, sate familiar on her hand,
A new musician, and increas'd the band.

The goldfinch, who, to shun the scalding head,
Had chang'd the medlar for a safer seat,
And hid in bushes 'scap'd the bitter show'r,
Now perch'd upon the lady of the flow'r,
And either songster holding out their throats,
And folding up their wings, renew'd their notes;
As if all day, preluding to the fight,

They only had rehears'd, to sing by night.
The banquet ended, and the battle done,

They danc'd by star-light and the friendly moon:
And when they were to part, the laureate queen
Supplied with steeds the lady of the green;
Her and her train conducting on the way
The moon to follow, and avoid the day.

This when I saw, inquisitive to know
The secret moral of the mystic show,
I started from my shade, in hopes to find
Some nymph to satisfy my longing mind
And as my fair adventurer fell, I found
A lady all in white with laurel crown'd,
Who clos'd the rear, and softly pac'd along,
Repeating to herself the former song