Poetry - Alexander Pope

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then, and Damon shall attend the strain, While yon slow oxen turn the furrow'd plain. 30 Here the bright crocus and blue violet glow; Here western winds on breathing roses blow. I'll stake yon lamb, that near the fountain plays, And from the brink his dancing shade surveys. DAPHNIS. And I this bowl, where wanton ivy twines, And swelling clusters bend the curling vines: Four Figures rising from the work appear, The various Seasons of the rolling year; And what is that, which binds the radiant sky, Where twelve fair signs in beauteous order lie? 40 DAMON. Then sing by turns, by turns the Muses sing; Now hawthorns blossom, now the daisies spring; Now leaves the trees, and flowers adorn the ground: Begin, the vales shall every note rebound. STREPHON. Inspire me, Phoebus, in my Delia's praise, With Waller's strains, or Granville's moving lays! A milk-white bull shall at your altars stand, That threats a fight, and spurns the rising sand. DAPHNIS. O Love! for Sylvia let me gain the prize, And make my tongue victorious as her eyes; 50 No lambs or sheep for victims I'll impart, Thy victim, Love, shall be the shepherd's heart. STREPHON. Me gentle Delia beckons from the plain, Then hid in shades, eludes her eager swain; But feigns a laugh, to see me search around, And by that laugh the willing fair is found. DAPHNIS. The sprightly Sylvia trips along the green, She runs, but hopes she does not run unseen; While a kind glance at her pursuer flies, How much at variance are her feet and eyes! 60 STREPHON. O'er golden sands let rich Pactolus flow, And trees weep amber on the banks of Po; Blest Thames's shores the brightest beauties yield, Feed here, my lambs, I'll seek no distant field. DAPHNIS. Celestial Venus haunts Idalia's groves; Diana Cynthus, Ceres Hybla loves; If Windsor-shades delight the matchless maid, Cynthus and Hybla yield to Windsor-shade. STREPHON. All nature mourns, the skies relent in showers, Hush'd are the birds, and closed the drooping flowers; 70 If Delia smile, the flowers begin to spring, The skies to brighten, and the birds to sing. DAPHNIS. All nature laughs, the groves are fresh and fair, The sun's mild lustre warms the vital air; If Sylvia smiles, new glories gild the shore, And vanquish'd Nature seems to charm no more. STREPHON. In spring the fields, in autumn hills I love, At morn the plains, at noon the shady grove, But Delia always; absent from her sight, Nor plains at morn, nor groves at noon delight. 80 DAPHNIS. Sylvia's like autumn ripe, yet mild as May, More bright than noon, yet fresh as early day; Even spring displeases, when she shines not here; But, blest with her, 'tis spring throughout the year. STREPHON. Say, Daphnis, say, in what glad soil appears, A wondrous tree6 that sacred monarchs bears? Tell me but this, and I'll disclaim the prize, And give the conquest to thy Sylvia's eyes. DAPHNIS. Nay, tell me first, in what more happy fields The thistle7 springs, to which the lily8 yields? 90 And then a nobler prize I will resign; For Sylvia, charming Sylvia shall be thine. DAMON. Cease to contend, for, Daphnis, I decree, The bowl to Strephon, and the lamb to thee: Blest swains, whose nymphs in every grace excel; Blest nymphs, whose swains those graces sing so well! Now rise, and haste to yonder woodbine bowers, A soft retreat from sudden vernal showers; The turf with rural dainties shall be crown'd. While opening blooms diffuse their sweets around. 100 For see! the gath'ring flocks to shelter tend, And from the Pleiads fruitful showers descend.

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      VER. 36. And clusters lurk beneath the curling vines.

       VER. 49–52. Originally thus in the MS.—

       Pan, let my numbers equal Strephon's lays,

       Of Parian stone thy statue will I raise;

       But if I conquer and augment my fold,

       Thy Parian statue shall be changed to gold.

       VER. 61–64. It stood thus at first—

       Let rich Iberia golden fleeces boast,

       Her purple wool the proud Assyrian coast,

       Blest Thames's shores, &c.

       VER. 61–68 Originally thus in the MS.—

       Go, flowery wreath, and let my Sylvia know,

       Compared to thine how bright her beauties show;

       Then die; and dying teach the lovely maid

       How soon the brightest beauties are decay'd.

       DAPHNIS.

       Go, tuneful bird, that pleased the woods so long,

       Of Amaryllis learn a sweeter song;

       To Heaven arising then her notes convey,

       For Heaven alone is worthy such a lay.

       VER 69–73. These verses were thus at first—

       All nature mourns, the birds their songs deny,

       Nor wasted brooks the thirsty flowers supply;

       If Delia smile, the flowers begin to spring,

       The brooks to murmur, and the birds to sing.

       VER. 99, 100, was originally—

       The turf with country dainties shall be spread,

       And trees with twining branches shade your head.

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      A shepherd's boy (he seeks no better name)

       Led forth his flocks along the silver Thame,

       Where dancing sunbeams on the waters play'd,

       And verdant alders form'd a quivering shade.

       Soft as he mourn'd, the streams forgot to flow,

       The flocks around a dumb compassion show:

       The Naïads wept in every watery bower,

       And Jove consented in a silent shower.

       Accept, O Garth9 the Muse's early lays, That adds this wreath of ivy to thy bays; 10 Hear what from love unpractised hearts endure: From love, the sole disease thou canst not cure. Ye shady beeches, and ye cooling streams, Defence from Phoebus', not from Cupid's beams, To you I mourn, nor to the deaf I sing, 'The woods shall answer, and their echo ring.'10 The hills and rocks attend my doleful lay; Why art thou prouder and more hard than they? The bleating sheep with my complaints agree, They parch'd with heat, and I inflamed by thee. 20 The sultry Sirius burns the thirsty plains, While in thy heart eternal winter reigns. Where stray ye, Muses, in what lawn or grove, While your Alexis pines in hopeless love? In those fair fields where sacred Isis glides, Or else where Cam his winding vales divides? As in the crystal spring I view my face, Fresh rising blushes paint the watery glass; But since those graces please thy eyes no more, I shun the fountains which I sought before. 30 Once I was skill'd in every herb that grew, And every plant that drinks the morning dew; Ah, wretched shepherd, what avails thy art, To cure thy lambs, but not to heal thy heart! Let other swains attend the rural care, Feed fairer flocks, or richer fleeces shear: But nigh yon mountain let me tune my lays, Embrace my love, and bind my brows with bays. That flute is mine which Colin's tuneful breath Inspired when living, and bequeath'd in death; 40 He said, 'Alexis, take this pipe—the same That taught the groves my Rosalinda's name:' But now the reeds shall hang on yonder tree, For ever silent, since despised by thee. Oh! were I made by some transforming power The captive bird that sings within thy bower! Then might my voice thy listening ears employ, And I those kisses he receives, enjoy. And yet my numbers please the rural throng, Rough Satyrs dance, and Pan applauds the song: 50 The Nymphs, forsaking every cave and spring, Their early fruit, and milk-white turtles bring; Each amorous nymph prefers

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