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THE FLOWER AND THE LEAF:

OR,

THE LADY IN THE ARBOUR.

A

VISION.

Now turning from the wintery figns, the fun
His courfe exalted through the Ram had run,
And, whirling up the fkies, his chariot drove
Through Taurus and the lightsome realms of love;
Where Venus from her orb defcends in fhowers,
To glad the ground, and paint the fields with
flowers:

When first the tender blades of grafs appear,
And buds, that yet the blast of Eurus fear,
Stand at the door of life, and doubt to clothe

the year:

Till gentle heat, and foft repeated rains,
Make the green blood to dance within their veins:
Then, at their call embolden'd, out they come,
And fwell the germs, and burft the narrow room;
Broader and broader yet, their blooms difplay.
Salute the welcome fun, and entertain the day.
Then from their breathing fouls the fweets repair,
To fcent the skies, and purge th' unwholfome air :
Joy spreads the heart, and, with a general fong,
Spring iffucs out, and leads the jolly months along.
In that sweet season, as in bed I lay,
And fought in fleep to pafs the night away,
I turn'd my weary'd fide, but ftill in vain,
Though full of youthful health, and void of pain:

Cares I had none, to keep me from my reft,
For love had never enter'd in my breast;
I wanted nothing fortune could supply,
Nor did fhe flumber till that hour deny.
I wonder'd then, but after found it true,
Much joy had dry'd away the balmy dew:
Seas would be pools, without the brushing air,
To curl the waves: and fure fome little care
Should weary nature fo, to make her want
repair.

When Chanticleer the second watch had fung,
Scorning the fcorner fleep, from bed I sprung;
| And, dreffing, by the moon, in loose array,
Pafs'd out in open air, preventing day, [way.
And fought a goodly grove, as fancy led my
Straight as a line in beauteous order food
Of oaks unfhorn a venerable wood;
Fresh was the grafs beneath, and every tree
At distance planted in a due degree,
Their branching arms in air with equal space
Stretch'd to their neighbours with a long embrace
And the new leaves on every bough were feen,
Some ruddy colour'd, fome of lighter green.
The painted birds, companions of the spring,
Hopping from spray to spray, were heard to fing.

Both eyes and ears receiv'd a like delight,
Enchanting mufic, and a charming fight.
On Philomel I fix'd my whole defire;
And liften'd for the queen of all the quire;
Fain would I hear her heavenly voice to fing;
And wanted yet an omen to the spring.

Attending long in vain, I took the way,
Which through a path but scarcely printed lay;
In narrow mazes oft it feem'd to meet,
And look'd as lightly prefs'd by fairy feet.
Wandering I walk'd alone, for still methought
To fome ftrange end fo ftrange a path was
wrought:

At laft it led me where an arbour stood,
The facred receptacle of the wood:

[green,

This place unmark'd, though oft I walk'd the In all my progrefs I had never feen:

And, feiz'd at once with wonder and delight,
Gaz'd all around me, new to the tranfporting
fight.

Twas bench'd with turf, and goodly to be feen,
The thick young grafs arofe in fresher green :
The mound was newly made, no fight could pass
Betwixt the nice partitions of the grafs;
The well-united fods fo closely lay;

And all around the fhades defended it from day:
For fycamores with eglantine were spread,
A hedge about the fides, a covering over head.
And fo the fragrant brier was wove between,
The fycamore and flowers were mix'd with
green,

That nature feem'd to vary the delight;
And fatisfy'd at once the fmell and fight.
The mafter workman of the bower was known
Through fairy-lands, and built for Oberon ;
Who twining leaves with fuch proportion drew,
They rofe by measure, and by rule they grew;
No mortal tongue can half the beauty tell :

For none but hands divine could work so well.
Both roof and fides were like a parlour made,
A foft recefs, and a cool fummer fhade;
The hedge was fet fo thick, no foreign eye
The perfons plac'd within it could efpy:
But all that pafs'd without, with ease was seen,
As if nor fence nor tree was plac'd between.
'Twas border'd with a field; and fome was plain
With grafs, and fome was fow'd with rifing grain.
That (now the dew with fpangles deck'd the
ground)

A fweeter fpot of earth was never found.

I look'd and look'd, and still with new delight;
bach joy my foul, fuch pleasures fill'd my fight:
And the fresh eglantine exhal'd a breath,
Whofe odours were of power to raise from death.
Nor fullen difcontent, nor anxious care,
Ev'n though brought thither, could inhabit there :
But thence they fled as from their mortal foe;
For this fweet place could only pleasure know.
Thus as I mus'd, I caft afide my eye,
And faw a medlar-tree was planted nigh.
The fpreading branches made a goodly show,
And full of opening blooms was every bough:
A goldfinch there I faw with gawdy pride
Of painted plumes, that hopp'd from fide to fide,

Still pecking as she pass'd; and still she drew
The fweets from every flower, and fuck'd the
dew:

Suffic'd at length, the warbled in her throat,
And tun'd her voice to many a merry note,
But indiftinct, and neither fweet nor clear,
Yet fuch as footh'd my foul, and pleas'd my ear.
Her fhort performance was no fooner try'd,
When the I fought, the nightingale, reply'd:
So fweet, fo fhrill, fo variously the fung,
That the grove echoed, and the valleys rung:
And I fo ravifh'd with her heavenly note,

I ftood intranc'd, and had no room for thought,
But, all o'er-power'd with ecstacy of blifs,
Was in a pleasing dream of paradife;

At length I wak'd, and, looking round the bower,
Search'd every tree, and pry'd on every flower,
If any where by chance I might espy,
The rural poet of the melody:

For ftill methought the fung not far away:
At laft I found her on a laurel spray.
Close by my fide fhe fat, and fair in fight,
Full in a line against her oppofite;
Where stood with eglantine the laurel twin'd;
And both their native sweets were well conjoin'd.
On the green bank I fat, and liften'd long
(Sitting was more convenient for the fong):
Nor till her lay was ended could I move,
But wish'd to dwell for ever in the grove.
Only methought the time too swiftly pafs'd,
And every note I fear'd would be the laft.
My fight, and smell, and hearing, were employ'd,
And all three fenfes in full guft enjoy'd.
And what alone did all the reft surpass,
The sweet poffeffion of the fairy place;
Single, and confcious to myself alone
Of pleasures to th' excluded world unknown:
Pleasures which no where else were to be found,
And all Elyfium in a spot of ground.

Thus while I fat intent to fee and hear,
And drew perfumes of more than vital air,
All fuddenly I heard th' approaching found
Of vocal mufic, on th' inchanted ground:
An host of faints it feem'd, fo full the quire;
As if the blefs'd above did all confpire
To join their voices, and neglect the lyre.
At length there iffued from the grove behind
A fair affembly of the female kind :

A train lefs fair, as ancient fathers tell,
Seduc'd the fons of heaven to rebel.

I pafs their form, and every charming grace,
Lefs than an angel would their worth debase:
But their attire, like liveries of a kind
All rich and rare, is fresh within my mind.
In velvet white as fnow the troop was gown'd,
The feams with sparkling emeralds fet around:
Their hoods and fleeves the fame; and purfled o'er
With diamonds, pearls, and all the shining store
Of eastern pomp: their long defcending train,
With rubies edg'd, and fapphires, fwept the plain:
High on their heads, with jewels richly set,
Each lady wore a radiant coronet.

Beneath the circles, all the quire was grac'd
With chaplets green on their fair foreheads plac'd.

Of laurel fome, of woodbine many more;
And wreaths of Agnus caftus others bore:
Thefe laft, who with thofe virgin crowns were
drefs'd,

Appear'd in higher honour than the rest.
They danc'd around: but in the midft was feen
A lady of a more majestic mien;

feen7

By ftature and by beauty mark'd their fovereign queen.

She in the midft began with fober grace;
Her fervant's eyes were fix'd upon her face,
And, as she mov'd or turn'd, her motions view'd,
Her measures kept, and step by step pursued.
Methought the trod the ground with greater
grace,

With more of godhead fhining in her face;
And as in beauty fhe furpafs'd the quire,
So, nobler than the reft, was her attire.
A crown of ruddy gold inclos'd her brow,
Plain without pomp, and rich without a show:
A branch of Agnus caftus in her hand
She bore aloft (her fceptre of command):
Admir'd, ador'd by all the circling crowd,
For wherefoe'er fhe turn'd her face, they bow'd:
And as the danc'd, a roundelay fhe fung,
In honour of the laurel, ever young:

She rais'd her voice on high, and fung fo clear,
The fawns came fcudding from the groves to
hear:

And all the bending foreft lent an ear.
At every close she made, th'attending throng
Reply'd, and bore the burden of the fong:
So juft, fo fmall, yet in fo sweet a note,
It seem'd the mufic melted in the throat.

Thus dancing on, and finging as they danc'd,
They to the middle of the mead advanc'd,
Till round my arbour a new ring they made,
And footed it about the fecret shade.
O'erjoy'd to fee the jolly troop fo near,
But fomewhat aw'd, I fhook with holy fear;
Yet not fo much, but that I noted well
Who did the most in song or dance excel.
Not long I had obferv'd, when from afar
I heard a fudden fymphony of war;
The neighing courfers, and the foldiers cry,
And founding trumps that feem'd to tear the sky:
I faw foon after this, behind the grove
From whence the ladies did in order move,
Come iffuing out in arms a warrior train,
That like a deluge pour'd upon the plain :
On barbed feeds they rode in proud array,
Thick as the college of the bees in May,
When fwarning o'er the dufky fields they fly,
New to the flowers, and intercept the sky.
So fierce they drove, their courfers were fo fleet,
That the turf trembled underneath their feet.

To tell their coftly furniture were long,
The fummer's day would end before the long :
To purchase but the tenth of all their store,
Would make the mighty Perfian monarch poor.
Yet what I can, I will; before the reit
The trumpets iffued in white mantles drefs'd:
A numerous troop, and all their heads around
With chaplets green of cerrial-oak were crown'd.
And at each trumpet was a banner bound;

Which waving in the wind display'd at large
Their master's coat of arms, and knightly charge.
Broad were the banners, and of fnowy hue,
A purer web the filk-worm never drew.
The chief about their necks the fcutcheons wore,
With orient pearls and jewels powder'd o'er :
Broad were their collars too, and every one
Was fet about with many a costly stone.
Next these of kings at arms a goodly train
In proud array came prancing o'er the plain:
Their cloaks were cloth of filver mix'd with gold,
And garlands green around their temples roll'd:
Rich crowns were on their royal scutcheons plac'd,
With fapphires, diamonds, and with rubies grac'd:
And as the trumpets their appearance made,
So thefe in habits were alike array'd;
But with a pace more fober, and more flow;
And twenty, rank in rank, they rode a row.
The pursuivants came next, in number more;
And like the heralds each his fcutcheon bore:
Clad in white velvet all their troop they led,
With each an oaken chaplet on his head.

Nine royal knights in equal rank fucceed,
Each warrior mounted on a fiery steed:
In golden armour glories to behold;
The rivets of their arms were nail'd with gold.
Their furcoats of white ermin fur were made,
With cloth of gold between, that caft a glittering
fhade;

The trappings of their steeds were of the same;
The golden fringe ev'n fet 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 affign'd,
All in rich livery clad, and of a kind:
White velvet, but unfhorn, for cloaks they wore,
And each within his hand a truncheon bore:
The foremost held a helm of rare device;
A prince's ranfom would not pay the price.
The fecond bore the buckler of his knight,
The third of cornel-wood a fpear upright,
Headed with piercing fteel, and polish'd bright..
Like to their lords their equipage was feen,
And all their foreheads crown'd with garlands

green.

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And after these came, arm'd with spear and An hoft fo great, as cover'd all the field, And all their foreheads, like the knights before, With laurels ever green were fhaded o'er, Or oak, or other leaves of lasting kind, Tenacious of the stem, and firm against the wind. Some in their hands, befide the lance and fhield, The boughs of woodbine or of hawthorn held, Or branches for their myftic emblems took, Of palm, of laurel, or of cerrial oak. Thus marching to the trumpet's lofty found, Drawn in two lines adverfe they wheel'd

around,

And in the middle meadow took their ground.
Among themselves the turney they divide,
In equal fquadrons rang'd on either fide.
Then turn'd their hories heads, and man to man,
And fteed to fteed oppos'd, the justs began.
They lightly fet their lances in the reft,
And, at the fign, against each other prefs'd:

They met. I fitting at my ease beheld
The mix'd events, and fortunes of the field.
Some broke their spears, fome tumbled horfe and

man,

And round the field the lighten'd courfers ran.
An hour and more, like tides, in equal fway
They rush'd, and won by turns, and loft the day:
At length the nine (who ftill together held)
Their fainting foes to fhameful fight compell'd,
And with refistless force o'er-ran 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 affembly they advanc'd,
Who near the fecret arbour fung and danc'd.
The ladies left their measures at the fight,
To meet the chiefs returning from the fight,
And each with open arms embrac'd her chofen(
knight.

Amid the plain a fpreading laurel ftood,
The grace and ornament of all the wood:
That pleafing fhade they fought, a foft retreat
From fudden April fhowers, a fhelter from the
heat :

Her leafy arms with fuch extent were spread,
So near the clouds was her aspiring head,
That hofts of birds, that wing the liquid air,
Perch'd in the boughs, had nightly lodging there:
And flocks of theep beneath the fhade from far
Might hear the rattling hail, and wintery war;
From Heaven's inclemency here found retreat,
Enjoy'd the cool, and fhunn'd the scorching heat:
A hundred knights might there at case abide;
And every knight a lady by his fide:

The trunk itself fuch odours did bequeath,

That a Moluccan breeze to these was common breath.

}

The lords and ladies here, approaching, paid
Their homage, with a low obeifance made :
And feem'd to venerate the facred fhade.
Thefe rites perform'd, their pleasures they pursue,
With fong of love, and mix with pleasures new ;
Around the holy tree their dance they frame,
And every champion leads his chofen dame.
I caft my fight upon the farther field,
And a freth object of delight beheld:
For from the region of the Weft I heard
New mufic found, and a new troop appear'd;
Of knights, and ladies mix'd, a jolly band,
But all on foot they march'd, and hand in hand.
The ladies drefs'd in rich fymars were seen
Of Florence fattin, flower'd with white and (
green,

And for a fhade betwixt the bloomy gridelin.
The borders of their petticoats below
Were guarded thick with rubies on a row;
And every damfel wore upon her head
Of flowers a garland blended white and red.
Attir'd in mantles all the knights were seen,
That gratify'd the view with cheerful green :
Their chaplets of their ladies colours were,
Compos'd of white and red, to fhade their fhining

hair,

Before the merry troop the minstrels play'd;
All in their mafter's liveries were array'd,
And clad in green, and on their temples wore
The chaplets white and red their ladies bore.
Their inftruments were various in their kind,
Some for the bow, and fome for breathing wind:
The fawtry, pipe, and hautboy's noify band,
And the foft fute trembling beneath the touching

hand.

A tuft of daifies on a flowery lay

They faw, and thitherward they bent their way; To this both knights and dames their homage made,

And due obeifance to the daify paid.
And then the band of flutes began to play,
To which a lady fung a virelay :

And still at every clofe fhe would repeat
The burden of the song, "The daify is so sweet."
The daify is so sweet, when she begun,
The troop of knights and dames continued on.
The concert and the voice fo charm'd my ear,
And footh'd my foul, that it was heaven to hear.
But foon their pleasure pafs'd: at noon of day,
The fun with fultry beams began to play:
Not Sirius fhoots a fiercer flame from high,
When with his poisonous breath he blasts the fky:
Then droop'd the fading flowers (their beauty'
fled)

And clos'd their fickly eyes, and hung the head; (
And, rivel'd up with heat, lay dying in their bed.
The ladies gafp'd, and scarcely could refpire;
The breath they drew, no longer air, but fire;
The fainty knights were fcorch'd; and knew not
where

To run for fhelter, for no fhade was near;
And after this the gathering clouds amain
Pour'd down a ftorm of rattling hail and rain:
And lightning flash'd betwixt the field and

flowers,

Burnt up before, were buried in the fhowers.
The ladies and the knights, no fhelter nigh,
Bare to the weather and the wintery fky,
Were dropping wet, difconfolate, and wan,
And through their thin array receiv'd the rain;
While thofe in white protected by the tree [free.
Saw pafs in vain th' affault, and stood from danger
But as compaffion mov'd their gentle minds,
When ceas'd the florm, and filent were the winds,
Difpleas'd at what, not fuffering, 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 fweet their foes embrace,
Then thus the queen with laurel on her brow,
Fair fifter, I have fuffer'd in your woe;
Nor fhall be wanting aught within my power
For your relief in my refreshing bower.
That other anfwer'd with a lowly look,
And foon the gracious invitation took :
For ill at eafe both fhe and all her train
The fcorching fun had borne, and beating rain.
Like courtcfy was us'd by all in white, [knight.
Each dame a dame receiv'd, and every knight a

The laurel champions with their fwords invade The neighbouring forefts, where the justs were made,

And ferewood from the rotten hedges took,
And feeds of latent fire from flints provoke:
A cheerful blaze arofe, and by the fire [attire.
They warm'd their frozen feet, and dry'd their wet
Refresh'd with heat, the ladies fought around
For virtuous herbs, which gather'd from the ground
They fqueez'd the juice, and cooling ointment
made,
[kins they laid:
Which on their fun-burnt cheeks, and their chap't
Then fought green falads, which they bade them eat,
A fovereign remedy for inward hear.

The lady of the leaf ordain'd a feast,
And made the lady of the flower her guest:
When lo, a bower afcended on the plain, [train.
With fudden feats ordain'd, and large for either
This bower was near my pleafant arbour plac'd,
That I could hear and fee whatever pais'd:
The ladies fat with each a knight between,
Diftinguifh'd by their colours, white and green;
The vanquish'd party with the victors join'd,
Nor wanted fweet difcourfe, the banquet of the
mind.

Mean time the minstrels play'd on either fide,
Vain of their art, and for the mastery vy'd:
The fweet contention lafted for an hour,
And reach'd my secret arbour from the bower.
The fun was fet; and Vefper, to supply
His abfent beams, had lighted up the iky:
When Philomel officious all the day
To fing the fervice of th' enfuing May,
Fled from her laurel fhade, and wing'd her flight
Directly to the queen array'd in white:
And hopping fat familiar on her hand,
A new mufician, and increas'd the band.

The goldfinch, who, to fhun the scalding heat,
Had chang'd the medlar for a fafer seat,
And hid in bufhes 'fcap'd the bitter shower,
Now perch'd upon the lady of the flower;
And either fongfter 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 fing 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 laureat queen
Supply'd with fteeds the lady of the green,
Her and her train conducting on the way,
The moon to follow, and avoid the day.
This when I faw, inquifitive to know
The fecret moral of the mystic fhew,
I started from my fhade, in hopes to find
Some nymph to fatisfy my longing mind:
And as my fair adventure fell, I found
A lady all in white, with laurel crown'd,
Who clos'd the rear, and foftly pac'd along,
Repeating to herself the former fong.
With due respect my body I inclin'd,
As to fome being of fuperior kind,
And made my court according to the day,
Wishing her queen and her a happy May.
Great thanks, my daughter, with a gracious bow,
She faid; and I, who much defir'd to know

Of whence the was, yet fearful how to break
My mind, adventur'd humbly thus to speak:
Madam, might I prefume and not offend,
So may the stars and fhining moon attend
Your nightly sports, as you vouchsafe to tell
What nymphs they were who mortal forms
excel,
[fo well.
And what the knights who fought in lifted fields.
To this the dame reply'd: Fair daughter, know,
That what you faw was all a fairy fhow:
And all thofe airy fhapes you now behold,
Were human bodies once, and cloth'd with earthly
mold,

Our fouls, not yet prepar'd for upper light,
Till doomsday wander in the fhades of night;
This only holiday of all the year,
We privileg'd in funshine may appear :
With fongs and dance we celebrate the day,
And with due honours usher in the May.
At other times we reign by night alone,
And pofting through the fkies pursue the moon:
But when the morn arifes, none are found;
For cruel Demogorgon walks the round,
And if he finds a fairy lag in light,

He drives the wretch before, and lafhes into night.

All courteous are by kind; and ever proud
With friendly offices to help the good.
In every land we have a larger space
Than what is known to you of mortal race:
Where we with green adorn our fairy bowers,
And ev'n this grove, unfeen before, is ours.
Know farther; every lady cloth'd in white,
And, crown'd with oak and laurel every knight,
Are fervants to the leaf, by liveries known
Of innocence; and I myself am one.
Saw you not her fo graceful to behold

In white attire, and crown'd with radiant guld?
The fovereign lady of our land is the,
Diana call'd, the queen of chastity:
And, for the fpotlefs name of maid fhe bears,
That Agnus caftus in her hand appears;
And all her train, with leafy chaplets crown'd,
Were for unblam'd virginity renown'd;
But those the chief and highest in command
Who bear thofe holy branches in their hand:
The knights adorn'd with laurel crowns are
they,

Whom death nor danger never could difmay,
Victorious names, who made the world obey:
Who, while they liv'd, in deeds of arms excell'd,
And after death for deities were held.

But thofe, who wear the woodbine on their brow,
Were knights of love, who never broke their vow;
Firm to their plighted faith, and ever free
From fears, and fickle chance, and jealousy.
The lords and ladics, who the woodbine bear,
As true as Triftram and Ifotta were.

But what are those, said I, th' unconquer'd nine, Who crown'd with laurel-wreaths in golden armour fhine?

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