Single, and conscious 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 see 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 conspire
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,
Less than an angel wou'd 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 fparkling emeralds fet around :
Their hoods and fleeves the fame; and purfled o'er
With diamonds, pearls, and all the fhining ftore
Of eastern pomp: their long descending train,
With rubies edg'd, and faphires, 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 ;
These last, who with thofe virgin crowns were drefs'd,
Appear'd in higher honor than the reft.
They danc'd around: but in the midst was seen A lady of a more majestic mien;
[queen. By ftature, and by beauty mark'd their sov'reign
She in the midst began with fober grace;
Her fervant's eyes were fix'd upon her face,
And as the mov'd or turn'd, her motions view'd,
Her measures kept and step by step purfu'd.
Methought she 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 croud,
For wherefoe'er she turn'd her face, they bow'd:
And as she danc'd, a roundelay the fung,
In honor 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 forest lent an ear.
At ev'ry close she made, th' attending throng
Reply'd, and bore the burden of the song:
So juft, fo fmall, yet in so 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 secret shade.
O'erjoy'd to see the jolly troop fo near,
But fomewhat aw'd, I shook 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 sudden fymphony of war;
The neighing courfers, and the foldiers cry,
And founding trumps that feem'd to tear the sky:
I saw soon 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 fteeds they rode in proud array,
Thick as the college of the bees in May,
When fwarming o'er the dufky fields they fly,
New to the flow'rs, and intercept the fky..
So fierce they drove, their courfers were so fleet,
That the turf trembled underneath their feet.
To tell their coftly furniture were long,
The fummer's day wou'd end before the song:
To purchase but the tenth of all their ftore,
Would make the mighty Perfian monarch poor.
Yet what I can, I will; before the rest
The trumpets iffu'd 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 difplay'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 coftly ftone.
Next thefe 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 fcutcheons plac'd,
With fapphires, diamonds, and with rubies grac'd:
And as the trumpets their appearance made,
So these 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 feed::
In golden armor glorious 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 cast a glitt'ring
fhade,
The trappings of their steeds were of the fame;
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 ev'ry knight affign'd, ' All in rich livery clad, and of a kind;
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