Thou in thy turn fhalt like the queen repine,
And all her forrows doubled shall be thine:
He who adorns thy houfe, the lovely boy
Who now adorns it, fhall at length destroy.

Two hundred moons in their pale course had seen
The gay-rob'd fairies glimmer on the green,
And Albion now had reach'd in youthful prime
To nineteen years, as mortals measure time.
Flush'd with refiftlefs charms he fir'd to love
Each nymph and little Dryad of the grove;
For skilful Milkah spar'd not to employ
Her utmost art to rear the princely boy.
Each fupple limb fhe fwaith'd, and tender bone,
And to the Elfin ftandard kept him down ;
She robb'd dwarf-elders of their fragrant fruit,
And fed him early with the daify's root,
Whence through his veins the powerful juices ran,
And form'd in beauteous miniature the Man.

Yet ftill, two inches taller than the rest,
His lofty port his human birth confefs'd;
A foot in height, how ftately did he show!
How look fuperior on the crowd below!
What knight like him could tofs thy rushy launce!
Who move fo graceful in the mazy dance!

A fhape fo nice, or features half fo fair,

What elf could boaft! or fuch a flow of hair!
Bright Kenna faw, a princefs born to reign,

And felt the charmer burn in ev'ry vein.

She,

She, heiress to this empire's potent lord,

Prais'd like the ftars, and next the moon ador'd.
She, whom at diftance thrones and princedoms view'd
To whom proud Oriel and Azuriel fu'd,
In her high palace languifh'd, void of joy,
And pin'd in fecret for a mortal boy.

He too was fmitten, and discreetly ftrove
By courtly deeds to gain the virgin's love,
For her he cull'd the fairest flowers that grew,
Ere morning funs had drain'd their fragrant dew;
He chas'd the hornet in his mid-day flight,
And brought her glow-worms in the noon of night;
When on ripe fruit fhe caft a wifhing eye,
Did ever Albion think the tree too high!
He show'd her where the pregnant goldfinch hung,
And the wren-mother brooding o'er her young;
To her th' inscription on their eggs he read,
(Admire, ye clerks, the youth whom Milkah bred)
To her he show'd each herb of virtuous juice,
Their powers diftinguifh'd, and defcrib'd their ufe:
All vain their powers alas to Kenna prove,
And well fung Ovid, There's no herb for love.

And when a ghost, enlarg'd from realms below,
Seeks its old friend to tell fome fecret woe,
The poor shade shivering ftands, and must not break
His painful filence, till the mortal speak;
So far'd it with the little love-fick maid,
Forbid to utter what her eyes betray'd.

He faw her anguish, and reveal'd his flame,
And fpar'd the blushes of the tongue-ty'd dame.
The day would fail me, should I reckon o'er
The fighs they lavish'd, and the oaths they swore;
In words fo melting, that, compar'd with those,
The nicest courtship of terrestrial beaus

Wou'd found like compliments from country-clowns
To red-cheek'd fweet-hearts in their home-spun gowns.
All in a lawn of many a various hue,

A bed of flowers (a fairy foreft) grew;
'Twas here one noon, the gaudieft of the May,
The ftill, the fecret, filent hour of day,
Beneath a lofty tulip's ample fhade

Sate the young lover and th' immortal maid.
They thought all fairies flept, ah luckless pair!
Hid, but in vain, in the fun's noon-tide glare!
When Albion, leaning on his Kenna's breast,
Thus all the foftnefs of his foul exprefs'd.

All things are hufh'd. The fun's meridian rays

• Veil the horizon in one mighty blaze;

• Nor moon nor ftar in heaven's blue arch is feen

• With kindly rays to filver o'er the

green.

Grateful to fairy eyes; they secret take Their reft, and only wretched mortals wake. • This dead of day I fly to thee alone,

A world to me, a multitude in one.

• Oh sweet as dew-drops on these flowery lawns, • When the sky opens and the evening dawns!

• Streight

Streight as the pink, that towers fo high in air,
• Soft as the blue-bell! as the daify, fair!
• Bleft be the hour, when first I was convey'd
An infant captive to this blissful shade!

And bleft the hand that did my form refine,
And fhrunk my stature to a match with thine!
Glad I for thee renounce my royal birth,
And all the giant-daughters of the earth.
Thou, if thy breaft with equal ardour burn,
Renounce thy kind, and love for love return.
• So from us two, combin'd by nuptial ties,
'A race unknown of demi-gods shall rise.
Oh fpeak, my love! my vows with vows repay,
And sweetly fwear my rifing fears away.'
To whom (the shining azure of her eyes

More brighten'd) thus th' enamour'd maid replies.

By all the stars, and first the glorious moon,

I swear, and by the head of Oberon,

A dreadful oath! no prince of fairy line

• Shall e'er in wedlock plight his vows with mine. 'Where-e'er my footsteps in the dance are seen,

• May toadstools rise, and mildews blast the green, May the keen eaft-wind blight my fav'rite flowers, And fnakes and spotted adders haunt my bowers. • Confin'd whole ages in an hemlock shade,

There rather pine I a neglected maid; Or worse, exil'd from Cynthia's gentle rays, • Parch in the fun a thousand fummer-days,

"Than

Than any prince, a prince of fairy line,

• In facred wedlock plight his vows with mine.'
She ended and with lips of rofy hue
Dipt five times over in ambrofial dew,

Stifled his words. When from his covert rear'd,
The frowning brow of Oberon appear'd.

A fun-flower's trunk was near, whence (killing fight!)
The monarch iffu'd, half an ell in height:

Full on the pair a furious look he caft,

Nor spake; but gave his bugle-horn a blast,
That through the woodland echo'd far and wide,
And drew a fwarm of subjects to his fide.
A hundred chofen knights, in war renown'd,
Drive Albion banish'd from the facred ground;
And twice ten myriads guard the bright abodes,
Where the proud king, amidst his demi-gods,
For Kenna's fudden bridal bids prepare,
And to Azuriel gives the weeping fair.

If fame in arms, with ancient birth combin'd,
And faultlefs beauty, and a spotless mind,
To love and praise can generous fouls incline,
That love, Azuriel, and that praise were thine.
Blood, only less than royal, fill'd thy veins,
Proud was thy roof, and large thy fair domains,
Where now the skies high Holland-house invades,
And fhort-liv'd Warwick sadden'd all the shades,
Thy dwelling flood: nor did in him afford

A nobler owner, or a lovelier lord.

VOL. I.

D

For