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Still, when she slept, he kept both watch and ward;
And when she wakt, he wayted diligent,
With humble service to her will prepard;
From her fayre eyes he took commandément,
And ever by her lookes conceived her intent.

MAN THE CARE OF ANGELS.1

AND is there care in heaven? And is there love
In heavenly spirits to these creatures base,
That may compassion of their evils move?
There is :-else much more wretched were the case
Of men then2 beasts: but O the exceeding grace
Of Highest God! that loves his creatures so,
And all his workes with mercy doth embrace,
That blessed angels he sends to and fro,

To serve to3 wicked man, to serve his wicked foe!

How oft do they their silver bowers leave,
To come to succour us that succour want!
How oft do they with golden pinions cleave
The flitting skyes,+ like flying pursuivant,5
Against fowle feendes to ayd us militant!6
They for us fight, they watch, and dewly ward,
And their bright squadrons round about us plant;
And all for love, and nothing for reward;

O why should hevenly God to men have such regard!

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THERE the most daintie paradise on ground
Itselfe doth offer to his9 sober eye,
In which all pleasures plenteously abownd.
And none does others happinesse envye;

1 "Faerie Queen," Bk. ii, Canto 8.

8

"These," says Dr. Jortin, "are fine lines, and would not suffer by being compared with any thing that Milton has said upon this subject."

5

2 Then-than. 3 Serve to-this is the old syntax. 4 Flitting skyes-the floatting clouds. See note 4, p. 5. Pursuivant from the French poursuivre, to follow up a state messenger. Militant--from the Latin militare, to serve as

6

a soldier-fighting, engaged in warfare.

7" Faerie Queen," Bk. ii, Canto 12. 8 Onground-on earth. 9 His-i. e. Sir Guyon or Temperance.

The painted flowers; the trees upshooting hye;
The dales for shade; the hilles for breathing space;
The trembling groves; the christall running by;
And, that which all faire works doth most aggrace,1
The art,2 which all that wrought, appeared in no place.
One would have thought (so cunningly the rude
And scornéd parts were mingled with the fine)
That Nature had for wantonesse ensude3
Art, and that Art at Nature did repine;
So striving each the other to undermine,
Each did the others worke more beautify;
So differing both in wills, agreed in fine:"
So all agreed, through sweete diversity,
This garden to adorne with all variety.

And in the midst of all a fountaine stood,
Of richest substance that on earth might bee,
So pure and shiny, that the silver flood
Through every channell running one might see;
Most goodly it with curious ymageree

Was overwrought, and shapes of naked boys,
Of which some seemed with lively jolite
To fly about, playing their wanton toyes,

Whiles others did embaye themselves in liquid joys.

And over all, of purest gold, was spred
A trayle of yvie in his native hew;
For the rich metall was so colouréd,

That wight, who did not well avised it vew,
Would surely deeme it to bee yvie trew :
Low his lascivious armes adown did creepe,
That themselves dipping in the silver dew,
Their fleecy flowers they fearefully did steepe,
Which drops of christall seemed for wantonesse to weep.

Infinit streams continually did well

Out of this fountain, sweete and faire to see.

The which into an ample laver fell,

And shortly grew to so great quantitie

Aggrace-favour, enhance. 2 The art, &c.-the old maxim, artis est celare artem, the perfection of art consists in concealing it, seems to be here hinted at. 3 Ensude-followed. 4 Fine-end. 5 Embaye-bathe. 6 Lascivious-loose, hanging loose.

That like a little lake it seemed to bee;
Whose depth exceeded not three cubits hight,
That through the waves one might the bottom see,
All pavd beneath with jaspar shining bright,
That seemd the fountaine in that sea did sayle upright.

Eftsoones1 they heard a most melodious sound
Of all that mote delight a daintie ear,
Such as attonce might not on living ground,
Save in this paradise, be heard elsewhere:
Right hard it was for wight which did it heare
To read what manner musicke that might bee:
For all that pleasing is to living eare,
Was there consorted in one harmonee;

Birdes, voices, instruments, windes, waters, all agree.

The joyous birdes, shrouded in chearefull shade,
Their notes unto the voice attempred sweet;
The angelical soft trembling voyces made
To the instruments divine respondence meet;
The silver-sounding instruments did meet
With the base3 murmure of the waters fall:
The waters fall, with difference discreet,
Now soft, now loud, unto the wind did call :
The gentle warbling wind low answered to all.

1

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So forth issewed the Seasons of the yeare:
First, lusty Spring, all dight in leaves of flowers
That freshly budded and new blossomes did beare,
In which a thousand birds had built their bowers
That sweetly sung to call forth paramours;
And in his hand a javelin he did beare,
And on his head (as fit for warlike stoures5)
A guilt engraven morion he did weare;

That as some did him love, so others did him feare.

Then came the iolly Sommer, being dight
In a thin silken cassock coloured greene,

Eftsoones-soon efter or after, presently. ? Read-guess.

4 "Faerie Queen," Bk. vii, Canto 2. 5 an ancient steel cap or helmet.

3 Base-low.

6 Stoures-assaults, battles.

Morion

That was unlined all, to be more light;
And on his head a girlond well beseene1
He wore, from which as he had chaufféd2 been
The sweat did drop; and in his hand he bore
A bowe and shaftes, as he in forrest greene
Had hunted late the libbard3 or the bore,

And nowe would bathe his limbes, with labor heated sore.

Then came the Autumne, all in yellow clad,

As though he joyéd in his plenteous store,

Laden with fruits that made him laugh, full glad
That he had banisht hunger, which to-fore
Had by the belly oft him pinchéd sore;
Upon his head a wreath, that was enrold 5
With ears of corne of every sort, he bore;
And in his hand a sickle he did holde,

To reape the ripened fruits the which the earth had yold.6
Lastly came Winter, cloathed all in frize,

Chattering his teeth for cold that did him chill;
Whilst on his hoary beard his breath did freese,
And the dull drops, that from his purpled bill
As from a limbeck' did adown distill:
In his right hand a tippéd staffe he held,
With which his feeble steps he stayed still;
For he was faint with cold and week with eld;8
That scarse his looséd limbes he hable was to weld.9

THE BUTTERFLY 10

THUS the fresh Clarion," being readie dight,
Unto his journey did himselfe addresse,
And with good speed began to take his flight;
Over the fields, in his frank lustinesse,
And all the champaigne12 o're he soared light;
And all the country wide he did possesse,
Feeding upon their pleasures bounteouslie,
That none gainsaid, nor none did him envie.

4

1 Well beseene-beautiful to be seen. 2 Chauffed-heated. 3 Libbard-the leopard. To-fore-before this. 5 Enrold-surrounded. 6 Yold-yielded. Limbeck-an alembic or still. 8 Eld-old age. 9 Weld-wield, govern.

7

10 "Muiopotmos; or the Fate of the Butterflie," vv. 145–232. 11 Clarion-the name of the butterfly. 12 Champaigne from the French champagne, Italian campagna, Latin campanus, and all from campus, a plain-open country.

2

The woods, the rivers, and the medowes greene,
With his aire-cutting wings he measured wide;
Ne did he leave the mountaines bare unseene,

Nor the rank grassie fennes delights untride:
But none of these, however sweet they beene,

Mote please his fancie, nor him cause abide :
His choicefull sense with every change doth flit;
No common things may please a wavering wit.

To the gay gardins his unstaid desire

Him wholly caried, to refresh his sprights:
There, lavish Nature, in her best attire,
Powres forth sweete odors and alluring sights;
And Arte, with her contending, doth aspire

To excell the naturall with made delights:
And all that faire or pleasant may be found,
In riotous excesse doth there abound.

There he arriving, round about doth flie

From bed to bed, from one to other border;
And takes survey, with curious busie eye,
Of every flowre and herbe there set in order;
Now this, now that, he tasteth tenderly,

Yet none of them he rudely doth disorder,
Nor with his feete their silken leaves deface,
But pastures on the pleasures of each place.

And evermore, with most varietie

And change of sweetness, (for all change is sweete,)
He casts his glutton sense to satisfy;

Now, sucking of the sap of herbe most meet,
Or of the dew which yet on them does lie,

Now in the same bathing his tender feete:

And then he pearcheth on some braunch thereby,2
To weather him,3 and his moyst wings to dry.

And then again he turneth to his play,

To spoyle the pleasures of that Paradise;
The wholesome Saulge,5 and Lavender still gray,
Ranke-smelling Rue, and Cummin good for eyes,

3

1 He casts-he casts in his mind, contrives how. Thereby-close by. To weather him-to expose himself to the air. Spoyle-make a spoil of. 5 Saulge-from the Latin salvere, to be in good health-the herb sage, so called from its salutary properties.

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