Eye me, blest Providence, and square my trial To my proportion'd strength. Shepherd, lead on.
E. Br. Unmuffle, ye faint stars, and thou, fair
That wont'st to love the traveller's benizon, Stoop thy pale visage through an amber cloud, And disinherit Chaos, that reigns here
In double night of darkness and of shades; Or, if your influence be quite damm'd up With black usurping mists, some gentle taper, Though a rush-candle from the wicker hole Of some clay habitation, visit us
With thy long levell'd rule of streaming light; And thou shalt be our star of Arcady,
Be barr'd that happiness, might we but hear The folded flocks penn'd in their wattled cotes, Or sound of pastoral reed with oaten stops, Or whistle from the lodge, or village cock Count the night watches to his feathery dames, "Twould be some solace yet, some little cheering In this close dungeon of innumerous boughs.
But, O that hapless virgin, our lost sister,
Where may she wander now, whither betake her From the chill dew, among rude burs and thistles? Perhaps some cold bank is her bolster now,
Or 'gainst the rugged bark of some broad elm Leans her unpillow'd head, fraught with sad fears. What, if in wild amazement and affright? Or, while we speak, within the direful grasp Of savage hunger, or of savage heat?
El. Br. Peace, brother; be not over-exquisite To cast the fashion of uncertain evils:
For grant they be so, while they rest unknown, What need a man forestall his date of grief, And run to meet what he would most avoid? Or if they be but false alarms of fear, How bitter is such self-delusion?
I do not think my sister so to seek, Or so unprincipled in Virtue's book,
And the sweet peace that goodness bosoms ever, As that the single want of light and noise
(Not being in danger, as I trust she is not) Could stir the constant mood of her calm thoughts, And put them into misbecoming plight.
Virtue could see to do what Virtue would
By her own radiant light, though sun and moon Were in the flat sea sunk. And Wisdom's self
Oft seeks to sweet retired Solitude; Where, with her best nurse, Contemplation, She plumes her feathers, and lets grow her wings, That in the various bustle of resort
Were all-to ruffled, and sometimes impair'd. He, that has light within his own clear breast, May sit i' th' center, and enjoy bright day: But he, that hides a dark soul and foul thoughts, Benighted walks under the mid-day sun;
Himself is his own dungeon.
That musing Meditation most affects
The pensive secrecy of desert cell,
Far from the cheerful haunt of men and herds,
And sits as safe as in a senate house;
For who would rob a hermit of his weeds,
His few books, or his beads, or maple dish, Or do his grey hairs any violence?
But Beauty, like the fair Hesperian tree Laden with blooming gold, had need the guard Of dragon-watch with unenchanted eye, To save her blossoms, and defend her fruit From the rash hand of bold Incontinence. You may as well spread out the unsunn'd heaps Of miser's treasure by an outlaw's den,
And tell me it is safe, as bid me hope
Danger will wink on Opportunity, And let a single helpless maiden pass Uninjur'd in this wild surrounding waste. Of night, or loneliness, it recks me not; I fear the dread events that dog them both, Lest some ill-greeting touch attempt the person Of our unowned sister.
I do not, brother, Infer, as if I thought my sister's state Secure, without all doubt or controversy; Yet, where an equal poise of hope and fear Does arbitrate th' event, my nature is That I incline to hope, rather than fear, And gladly banish squint suspicion.
My sister is not so defenceless left
As you imagine; she has a hidden strength, Which you remember not.
Sec. Br. What hidden strength, Unless the strength of heav'n, if you mean that?
El. Br. I mean that too, but yet a hidden strength, Which, if heav'n gave it, may be term'd her own: 'Tis Chastity, my brother, Chastity:
She, that has that, is clad in complete steel, And, like a quiver'd nymph with arrows keen, May trace huge forests and unharbour'd heaths, Infamous hills and sandy perilous wilds,
Where, through the sacred rays of Chastity, No savage fierce, bandite, or mountaineer, Will dare to soil her virgin purity:
Yea there, where very desolation dwells
By grots and caverns shagg'd with horrid shades, She may pass on with unblench'd majesty, Be it not done in pride, or in presumption. Some say, no evil thing that walks by night, In fog, or fire, by lake, or moorish fen, Blue meagre hag, or stubborn unlaid ghost That breaks his magic chains at curfew time, No goblin, or swart fairy of the mine, Hath hurtful pow'r o'er true virginity. Do ye believe me yet, or shall I call Antiquity from the old schools of Greece To testify the arms of Chastity?
Hence had the huntress Dian her dread bow, Fair silver-shafted queen, for ever chaste, Wherewith she tam'd the brinded lioness
And spotted mountain pard, but set at nought The frivolous bolt of Cupid; gods and men Fear'd her stern frown, and she was queen o' th'
What was that snaky-headed Gorgon shield, That wise Minerva wore, unconquer'd virgin,"
Wherewith she freez'd her foes to congeal'd stone,
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