"I saw them" under a green" mantling vine, That crawls along the side of yon' small hill, Their port was more than human ; as they stood "I took it for a fairy vision "Of some gay creatures of the element, "That in the colours of the rainbow live, 35 "And play i' th' plighted clouds. I was awe-struck, "And as I pass'd I worshipp'd:" if those you seek It were a journey like the path to heav'n To help you find them. Lady. Gentle Villager, 362 What readiest way would bring me to that place? Com. "Due west it rises from this shrubby point. Lady. "To find out that, good Shepherd, I suppose, "In such a scant allowance of star-light, "Would overtask the best land pilot's art, "Without the sure guess of well-practis'd feet.” Com. I know each lane and ev'ry alley green, Dingle or bushy dell, of this wide wood, "And ev'ry bosky bourn from side to side," My daily walks and ancient neighbourhood; And if your stray attendants be yet lodg'd, Or shroud within these limits, I shall know Ere morrow wake, "or the low-roosted lark "From her thatch'd pallat rouse: if" otherwise I can conduct you Lady to a low But loyal cottage, where you may be safe Till farther quest. Lady. Shepherd, I take thy word, 370 And trust thy honest offer'd courtesy, "Which oft' is sooner found in lowly sheds I cannot be, that I should fear to change it. Enter COMUS' Crew from behind the trees. SONG. By a Man. [Exeunt. Fly swiftly, ye Minutes! till Comus receive Without love and wine, wit and beauty are vain, The most splendid palace grows dark as the grave: 391 Love and wine give, ye Gods, or take back what you gave. CHORUS. Away, away, away, To Comus' court repair; There night outshines the day, There yields the melting fair. 397 ACT II. "Enter the two BROTHERS. "Elder Brother. "UNMUFFLE, ye faint Stars! and thou, fair Moon ! "With thy long levell'd rule of streaming light, Y. Bro. "Or, if our eyes ΔΟ "Be barr'd that happiness, might we but hear "The folded flocks penn'd in their wattled cotes, "Or sound of past'ral 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 innum'rous boughs. "But oh! that hapless virgin, our lost sister! "Where may she wander now, whither betake her "From the chill dew, amongst rude burs and thistles? "Perhaps some cold bank is her bolster now, 20 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? E. Bro. "Peace brother; be not over exquisite 30 "To cast the fashion of uncertain evils; "For, grant they be so, while they rest unknown "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) 42 “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 tho' 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 allto ruffled, and sometimes impair'd. “He, that has light within his own clear breast, "May sit i' th' centre and enjoy bright day; "But he, that hides a dark soul and foul thoughts, 50 "Benighted walks under the mid-day sun; "Himself is his own dungeon. Y. Bro. "'Tis most true "That musing Meditation most affects "The pensive secrecy of desert cell, "Far from the chearful haunt of men and herds, 60 "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 70 "Of misers' 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. E. Bro. "I do not, brother, "Infer as if I thought my sister's state 80 |
