Page:Pastorals - Philips (1710).djvu/23

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GERON.Begin then, Boys, and vary well your Song;Nor fear, from Geron's upright Sentence, Wrong. A Boxen Haut-Boy, loud, and sweet of Sound,All varnish'd, and with brazen Ringlets bound,I to the Victor give: No small Reward,If with our usual Country Pipes compar'd.
HOBBINOL.The Snows are melted, and the kindly RainDescends on ev'ry Herb, and ev'ry Grain;Soft Balmy Breezes breathe along the Sky;The bloomy Season of the Year is nigh.
LANQUET.The Cuckoo tells aloud his painful Love;The Turtle's Voice is heard in ev'ry Grove;The Pastures change; the warbling Linnets sing:Prepare to welcome in the gaudy Spring.
HOBBINOL.When Locusts in the Fearny Bushes cry,When Ravens pant, and Snakes in Caverns lye;Then graze in Woods, and quit the burning Plain;Else shall ye press the spungy Teat in vain.
LANQUET.When Greens to Yellow vary, and ye see,The Ground bestrew'd with Fruits off ev'ry Tree,And stormy Winds are heard; think Winter near,Nor trust too far to the declining Year.
HOBBINOL.Full fain, O bless'd Eliza! would I praiseThy Maiden Rule, and Albion's Golden Days.Then gentle Sidney liv'd, the Shepherds Friend:Eternal Blessings on his Shade attend!
LANQUET.Thrice happy Shepherds now! For Dorset lovesThe Country-Muse, and our delightful Groves;While Anna reigns. O ever may She reign! And bring on Earth a Golden Age again.

HOBBINOL.

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