Two eager fhepherds, at the king's command,

Rent his gay plume, and snap'd his polish'd wand;
They tore his vest, and o'er his bofom threw

A weed of homely grain and ruffet hue;

Then fill'd with wither'd herbs his fcented locks,
And fcornful drove him to the low-brow'd rocks,
There doom'd to rove, deserted and forlorn,

Till thrice the moon had arch'd her filver horn.

*The next that rofe, and took the mystick reed, Was wrap'd ungraceful in a fordid weed:

IMITATIONS.

The fecond that appeared was in a very different garb. He was clothed in a garment of rough goat-skins, his hair was matted, his beard neglected; in his perfon uncouth, and awkard in his gait. He came up fleering to the nymph, and told her, "He had hugged his lambs, and kiffed his young kids, but he "hoped to kifs one that was sweeter." The fair one blushed with modesty and anger, and prayed fecretly against him, as

fhe

A fhaggy hide was o'er his shoulder spread,

And wreaths of noxious darnel bound his head 1;

Unfhorn his beard, and tangled was his hair,

He rudely walk'd, and thus addrefs'd the fair: "My kids I fondle, and my lambs I kiss,

"Ah! grant, fweet maid, a more delightful bliss.”
The damfels blush with anger and disdain,

And turn indignant from the shameless swain ;
To Pan in filence, and to Love they pray,

To make his musick hateful as his lay;

The gods affent: the flute he roughly takes,

And scarce with pain a grating murmur makes;

IMITATIONS.

fhe gave him the pipe. He fnatched it from her, but with great difficulty made it found; which was in fuch harsh and jarring notes, that the fhepherds cried one and all that he understood no mufick. He was immediately ordered to the most craggy parts of Arcadia to keep the goats, and commanded never to touch a pipe any more.

But when in jarring notes he forc'd his fong,
Juft indignation fir'd the rural throng:

Shame of Arcadia's bow'rs, the youths exclaim,
Whose wretched lays difgrace a fhepherd's name!

The watchful heralds, at Menalcas' nod,
Pursued the ruftick with a vengeful rod,
Condemn'd three fummers on the rocky fhore

To feed his goats, and touch a pipe no more,

*Now to the ring a portly swain advanc'd, Who neither wholly walk'd, nor wholly danc'd;

IMITATIONS.

*The third that advanced appeared in clothes that were fo frait and uneafy to him, that he seemed to move in pain. He marched up to the maiden with a thoughtful look, and ftately pace, and said, "Divine Amaryllis, you wear not those roses "to improve your beauty, but to make them afhamed." As fhe did not comprehend his meaning, fhe prefented the inftrument without reply. The tune that he played was fo intricate and perplexing, that the fhepherds ftood ftill like people aftonished and confounded.

Yet

Yet mov'd in pain, fo close his crimson veft

Was clafp'd uneafy o'er his ftraining breast:

"Fair nymph, faid he, the rofes, which you wear, "Your charms improve not, but their own impair." The maids, unus'd to flow'rs of eloquence,

Smil❜d at the words, but could not guess their sense.
When in his hand the facred reed he took,

Long time he view'd it with a pensive look;
Then gave it breath, and rais'd a fhriller note
Than when the bird of morning fwells his throat;
Through ev'ry interval, now low, now high,
Swift o'er the ftops his fingers feem'd to fly :

The youths, who heard fuch musick with surprize,
Gaz'd on the tuneful bard with wond'ring eyes:

NOTE.

See Taffo, Guarini, Fontenelle, Camoens, Garcilaffo and Lope de la Vega, and other writers of paftorals in Italian, French, Portuguese, and Spanish.

He

He saw with fecret pride their deep amaze,
Then faid, "Arcadia fhall refound my praife,
"And ev'ry clime my pow'rful art shall own;
"This, this, ye fwains, is melody alone:
"To me Amphion taught the heav'nly strains,
"Amphion, born on rich Hefperian plains."
To whom Menalcas: "Stranger, we admire
"Thy notes melodious, and thy rapt'rous fire;
"But ere to these fair valleys thou return,
"Adopt our manners, and our language learn :
"Some aged fhepherd fhall thy air improve,

"And teach thee how to speak, and how to move,"

IMITATIONS.

*In vain did he plead that it was the perfection of mufick, compofed by the moft fkilful mafter of Hefperia. Menalcas, finding that he was a ftranger, hofpitably took compaffion on him, and delivered him to an old fhepherd, who was ordered to get him clothes that would fit him, and teach him how to peak plain.

Soon