Hard by, a cottage chimney smokes,
From betwixt two aged oaks,

Where Corydon and Thyrsis met

Are at their savoury dinner set,

Of herbs, and other country messes,
Which the neat-handed Phillis dresses;
And then in haste her bow'r she leaves,
With Thestylis to bind the sheaves;
Or, if the earlier season lead,

To the tann'd haycock in the mead.

Sometimes with secure delight

The upland hamlets will invite,
When the merry bells ring round,

And the jocund rebecks sound

To many a youth, and many a maid,

Dancing in the chequer'd shade;

And young and old come forth to play

On a sunshine holy-day,

Till the live-long daylight fail;

9