They had engag'd their wandering steps too far, To the miled and lonely traveller? This is the place, as well as I may guess, 200 205 Of calling shapes, and beckoning shadows dire, I fee you vifibly, and now believe That he, the Supreme Good, t' whom all things ill Would fend a gliftering guardian, if need were, Was I deceiv'd, or did a fable cloud Turn forth her filver lining on the night? 215 220 I did I did not err, there does a fable cloud Turn forth her filver lining on the night, 225 I cannot hallow to my Brothers, but Such noife as I can make to be heard fartheft S 0. N G. SWEET Echo, sweetest nymph, that liv'st unseen Within thy aery shell, By flow Meander's margent green, And in the violet-embroider'd vale, Where the love-lorn nightingale Nightly to thee her fad fong mourneth well; Can't thou not tell me of a gentle pair That likeft thy Narciffus are? O if thou have Hid them in fome flowery cave, Tell me but where, Sweet queen of parly, daughter of the sphere, So may'st thou be tranflated to the skies, 235 240 And give refounding grace to all Heav'n's harmonies. COм. Can any mortal mixture of earth's mold Breathe fuch divine inchanting ravishment? Sure fomething holy lodges in that breast, How fweetly did they flote upon 245 the wings of K Of filence, through the empty-vaulted night, 250 Culling their potent herbs, and baleful drugs, 255 Who as they fung, would take the prifon'd foul, And lap it in Elyfium; Scylla wept, And chid her barking waves into attention, And fell Charybdis murmur'd foft applaufe: Yet they in pleasing flumber lull'd the fenfe, I never heard till now. I'll speak to her, 260 And she shall be my queen. Hail, foreign wonder, 265 Whom certain these rough fhades did never breed, Unless the Goddefs that in rural fhrine Dwell'ft here with Pan, or Sylvan, by blest song To touch the profperous growth of this tall wood. 270 Not any boast of skill, but extreme shift Compell'd me to awake the courteous Echo To give me answer from her moffy couch. 275 [thus? COм. What chance, good Lady, hath bereft you LA. Dim darkness, and this leafy labyrinth. COM. COм. Could that divide you from near-ufhering guides? 280 LA. They left me weary on a graffy turf. turn. COм. Perhaps fore-ftalling night prevented them. LA. How eafy my misfortune is to hit! COм. Imports their lofs, befide the present need? LA. No less than if I should my Brothers lose. COM. Were they of manly prime, or youthful bloom? LA. As fmooth as Hebe's their unrazor'd lips. 290 COM. Two fuch I faw, what time the labor'd ox In his loofe traces from the furrow came, And the fwinkt hedger at his fupper fat; I faw them under a green mantling vine That crawls along the fide of yon small hill, Plucking ripe clusters from the tender fhoots; Their port was more than human, as they stood: I took it for a faëry vision Of fome gay creatures of the element, That in the colors of the rainbow live, And play i'th' plighted clouds. I was aw-ftruck, you feek, It were a journey like the path to Heaven, 295 300 To help you find them. LA. Gentle Villager, K 2 What What readiest way would bring me to that place? 305 Would overtafk the beft land-pilot's art, Without the fure guess of well-practis'd feet. COM. I know each lane, and every alley green, And every bosky bourn from fide to fide, But loyal cottage, where you may be safe LA. Shepherd, I take thy word, And trust thy honeft offer'd courtesy, 310 315 320 Which oft is fooner found in lowly sheds With fmoky rafters, than in tap'fry halls And courts of princes, where it first was nam'd, 325 And yet is most pretended: In a place I cannot be, that I should fear to change it. Eye me, bleft Providence, and fquare my trial To my proportion'd ftrength! Shepherd, lead on. 330 The two BROTHERS. 1 BRO. Unmuffle, ye faint Stars, and thou fair Moon, That wont'ft to love the traveller's benizon, Stoop |