Before the merry troop the minstrels play'd;
All in their master's liv'ries 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 lute trembling beneath the touching hand.
A tuft of daifies on a flow'ry 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 sung a virelay :

And still at ev'ry close she would repeat
The burden of the fong, The daify is fo fweet.
The daify is fo fweet, when the begun,
The troop of knights and dames continu'd on.
The confort and the voice fo charm'd my ear,
And footh'd my foul, that it was heav'n to hear.
But foon their pleafure 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 pois'nous breath he blafts the fky:
Then droop'd the fading flow'rs (their beauty fled)
And clos'd their fickly eyes, and hung the head;
And rivell'd up with heat, lay dying in their bed.
The ladies gafp'd, and fcarcely could respire;
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 florm of rattling hail and rain:

And lightning flash'd betwixt: the field, and flow'rs,
Burnt up before, were buried in the fhow'rs.
I

VOL. III.

}

The

The ladies and the knights, no fhelter nigh,
Bare to the weather and the wintry Iky,

Were dropping wet, difconfolate, and wan,
And thro' their thin array, receiv'd the rain ;
While those in white protected by the tree

Saw pass in vain th' affault, and ftood from danger free,
But as compaffion mov'd their gentle minds,

When ceas'd the ftorm, and filent were the winds,
Displeas'd at what, not fuff'ring, they had seen,
They went to chear 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 sweet 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 ought within my pow'r
For your relief in my refreshing bow'r.
That other answer'd with a lowly look,
And foon the gracious invitation took:
For ill at ease both fhe and all her train
The scorching fun had born, and beating rain.
Like courtesy was us'd by all in white,

Each dame a dame receiv'd, and ev'ry knight a knight.
The laurel champions with their fwords invade
The neighb'ring forefts, where the jufts were made,
And ferewood from the rotten hedges took,
And feeds of latent fire, from flints provoke:
A chearful blaze arose, and by the fire

They warm'd their frozen feet, and dry'd their wet attire.
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,
Which on their fun-burnt cheeks, and their chapt skins
they laid;

Then

Then fought green falads, which they bade them eat, A fovereign remedy for inward heat.

The lady of the leaf ordain'd a feast,
And made the lady of the flow'r her guest:
When lo, a bow'r afcended on the plain,

With fudden feats ordain'd, and large for either train.
This bow'r was near my pleasant arbour plac'd,
That I could hear and fee whatever pass'd:
The ladies fat with each a knight between,
Diftinguish'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 sweet contention lafted for an hour,
And reach'd my fecret arbour from the bow'r.
The fun was fet; and Vefper, to fupply
His abfent beams, had lighted up the sky.
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 musician, and increas'd the band.

The goldfinch, who, to fhun the fcalding heat,
Had chang'd the medlar for a fafer seat,
And hid in bushes 'fcap'd the bitter fhow'r,
Now perch'd upon the lady of the flow'r;
And either fongfler 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 ftar-light and the friendly moon:
And when they were to part, the laureat queen
Supply'd with steeds the lady of the green,

I 2

Her

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 mystique show,
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 her felf the former fong.
With due refpect 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 defired 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 shining moon attend
Your nightly sports, as you vouchsafe to tell,
What nymphs they were who mortal forms excel,
And what the knights who fought in lifted fields fo well.
To this the dame reply'd: Fair daughter, know,
That what you faw was all a fairy show:
And all thofe airy shapes you now behold,
Were human bodies once, and cloth'd with earthly mold,
Our fouls, not yet prepar'd for upper light,

Till doomfday 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 ufher in the May.
At other times we reign by night alone,
And pofting thro' the skies 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 bow'rs,
And e'en this grove, unfeen before, is ours.
Know farther; ev'ry lady cloath'd in white,
And, crown'd with oak and laurel ev'ry 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 gold?
The fovereign lady of our land is fhe,
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 thofe the chief and highest in command
Who bear those holy branches in their hand :
The knights adorn'd with laurel crowns are they,
Whom death nor danger ever 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 jealoufy.

The lords and ladies, who the woodbine bear,
As true as Triftram and Ifotta were.

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