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Upon Appleton House to My Lord Fairfax

Within this sober Frame

Work of no Forrain Architect;

That unto Caves the Quarries drew,

And Forrests did to Pastures hew;

Who of his great Design in

Did for a Model vault his Brain,

Whose Columnes should so high be

To arch the Brows that on them gaz'd.

Why should of all things Man

Such unproportion'd dwellings build?

The Beasts are by their Denns exprest:

And Birds contrive an equal Nest;

The low roof'd Tortoises do

In cases fit of Tortoise-shell:

No Creature loves an empty space;

Their Bodies measure out their Place.

But He, superfluously spread,

Demands more room alive then dead.

And in his hollow Palace

Where Winds as he themselves may lose.

What need of all this Marble CrustT'impark the wanton Mose of Dust,

That thinks by Breadth the World

Though the first Builders fail'd in Height?

But all things are composed

Like Nature, orderly and near:

In which we the Dimensions

Of that more sober Age and Mind,

When larger sized Men did

To enter at a narrow loop;

As practising, in doors so strait,

To strain themselves through Heavens Gate.

And surely when the after

Shall hither come in Pilgrimage,

These sacred Places to adore,

By Vere and Fairfax trod before,

Men will dispute how their

Within such dwarfish Confines went:

And some will smile at this, as

As Romulus his Bee-like Cell.

Humility alone

Those short but admirable Lines,

By which, ungirt and unconstrain'd,

Things greater are in less contain'd.

Let others vainly strive

The Circle in the Quadrature!

These holy Mathematics

In ev'ry Figure equal Man.

Yet thus the laden House does sweat,

And scarce indures the Master great:

But where he comes the swelling

Stirs, and the Square grows Spherical;

More by his Magnitude distrest,

Then he is by its straitness prest:

And too officiously it

That in it self which him delights.

So Honour better Lowness bears,

Then That unwonted Greatness

Height with a certain Grace does bend,

But low Things clownishly ascend.

And yet what needs there here Excuse,

Where ev'ry Thing does answer Use?

Where neatness nothing can condemn,

Nor Pride invent what to contemn?

A Stately Frontispice Of

Adorns without the open Door:

Nor less the Rooms within

Daily new Furniture Of Friends.

The House was built upon the

Only as for a Mark Of Grace;

And for an Inn to

Its Lord a while, but not remain.

Him Bishops-Hill, or Denton may,

Or Bilbrough, better hold then they:

But Nature here hath been so

As if she said leave this to me.

Art would more neatly have

What she had laid so sweetly wast;

In fragrant Gardens, shaddy Woods,

Deep Meadows, and transparent Floods.

While with slow Eyes we these survey,

And on each pleasant footstep stay,

We opportunly may

The progress of this Houses Fate.

A Nunnery first gave it birth.

For Virgin Buildings oft brought forth.

And all that Neighbour-Ruine

The Quarries whence this dwelling rose.

Near to this gloomy Cloysters

There dwelt the blooming Virgin Thwates,

Fair beyond Measure, and an

Which might Deformity make fair.

And oft She spent the Summer

Discoursing with the Suttle Nuns.

Whence in these Words one to her weav'd,(As 'twere by Chance) Thoughts long conceiv'd."Within this holy leisure we"Live innocently as you see."these Walls restrain the World without,"But hedge our Liberty about."These Bars inclose the wider Den"Of those wild Creatures, called Men."The Cloyster outward shuts its Gates,"And, from us, locks on them the Grates."Here we, in shining Armour white,"Like Virgin Amazons do fight."And our chast Lamps we hourly trim,"Lest the great Bridegroom find them dim."Our Orient Breaths perfumed are"With insense of incessant Pray'r."And Holy-water of our Tears"Most strangly our complexion clears."Not Tears of Grief; but such as those"With which calm Pleasure overflows;"Or Pity, when we look on you"That live without this happy Vow."How should we grieve that must be seen"Each one a Spouse, and each a Queen;"And can in Heaven hence behold"Our brighter Robes and Crowns of Gold?"When we have prayed all our Beads,"Some One the holy Legend reads;"While all the rest with Needles paint"The Face and Graces of the Saint."But what the Linnen can't receive"They in their Lives do interweave"This work the Saints best represents;"That serves for Altar's Ornaments."But much it to our work would add"If here your hand, your Face we had:"By it we would our Lady touch;"Yet thus She you resembles much."Some of your Features, as we sow'd,"Through ev'ry Shrine should be bestow'd."And in one Beauty we would take"Enough a thousand Saints to make."And (for I dare not quench the Fire"That me does for your good inspire)"'Twere Sacriledge a Mant t'admit"To holy things, for Heaven fit."I see the Angels in a Crown"On you the Lillies show'ring down:"And round about you Glory breaks,"That something more then humane speaks."All Beauty, when at such a height,"Is so already consecrate."Fairfax I know; and long ere this"Have mark'd the Youth, and what he is."But can he such a Rival seem"For whom you Heav'n should disesteem?"Ah, no! and 'twould more Honour prove"He your Devoto were, then Love.

Here live beloved, and obey'd:

Each one your Sister, each your Maid."And, if our Rule seem strictly pend,"The Rule it self to you shall bend."Our Abbess too, now far in Age,"Doth your succession near presage."How soft the yoke on us would lye,"Might such fair Hands as yours it tye!"Your voice, the sweetest of the Quire,"Shall draw Heav'n nearer, raise us higher."And your Example, if our Head,"Will soon us to perfection lead."Those Virtues to us all so dear,"Will straight grow Sanctity when here:"And that, once sprung, increase so fast"Till Miracles it work at last."Nor is our Order yet so nice,"Delight to banish as a Vice."Here Pleasure Piety doth meet;"One perfecting the other Sweet."So through the mortal fruit we boyl"The Sugars uncorrupting Oyl:"And that which perisht while we pull,"Is thus preserved clear and full."For such indeed are all our Arts;"Still handling Natures finest Parts."Flow'rs dress the Altars; for the Clothes,"The Sea-born Amber we compose;"Balms for the griv'd we draw; and pasts"We mold, as Baits for curious tasts."What need is here of Man? unless"These as sweet Sins we should confess."Each Night among us to your side"Appoint a fresh and Virgin Bride;"Whom if Our Lord at midnight find,"Yet Neither should be left behind."Where you may lye as chast in Bed,"As Pearls together billeted."All Night embracing Arm in Arm,"Like Chrystal pure with Cotton warm."But what is this to all the store"Of Joys you see, and may make more!"Try but a while, if you be wise:"The Tryal neither Costs, nor Tyes.

Now Fairfax seek her promis'd faith:

Religion that dispensed hath;

Which She hence forward does begin;

The Nuns smooth Tongue has suckt her in.

Oft, though he knew it was in vain,

Yet would he valiantly complain."Is this that Sanctity so great,"An Art by which you finly'r cheat"Hypocrite Witches, hence Avant,"Who though in prison yet inchant!"Death only can such Theeves make fast,"As rob though in the Dungeon cast."Were there but, when this House was made,"One Stone that a just Hand had laid,"It must have fall'n upon her Head"Who first Thee from thy Faith misled."And yet, how well soever ment,"With them 'twould soon grow fraudulent"For like themselves they alter all,"And vice infects the very Wall."But sure those Buildings last not long,"Founded by Folly, kept by Wrong."I know what Fruit their Gardens yield,"When they it think by Night conceal'd."Fly from their Vices. 'Tis thy state,"Not Thee, that they would consecrate."Fly from their Ruine.

How I fear"Though guiltless lest thou perish there.

What should he do?

He would

Religion, but not Right neglect:

For first Religion taught him Right,

And dazled not but clear'd his sight.

Sometimes resolv'd his Sword he draws,

But reverenceth then the Laws:"For Justice still that Courage led;

First from a Judge, then Souldier bred.

Small Honour would be in the Storm.

The Court him grants the lawful Form;

Which licens'd either Peace or Force,

To hinder the unjust Divorce.

Yet still the Nuns his Right debar'd,

Standing upon their holy Guard.

Ill-counsell'd Women, do you

Whom you resist, or what you do?

Is not this he whose Offspring

Shall fight through all the Universe;

And with successive Valour

France,

Poland, either Germany;

Till one, as long since prophecy'd,

His Horse through conquer'd Britain ride?

Yet, against Fate, his Spouse they kept;

And the great Race would intercept.

Some to the Breach against their

Their Wooden Saints in vain

Another bolder stands at

With their old Holy-Water Brush.

While the disjointed Abbess

The gingling Chain-shot of her Beads.

But their lowd'st Cannon were their Lungs;

And sharpest Weapons were their Tongues.

But, waving these aside like Flyes,

Young Fairfax through the Wall does rise.

Then th' unfrequented Vault appear'd,

And superstitions vainly fear'd.

The Relicks False were set to view;

Only the Jewels there were true.

But truly bright and holy

That weeping at the Altar waites.

But the glad Youth away her bears,

And to the Nuns bequeaths her Tears:

Who guiltily their Prize bemoan,

Like Gipsies that a Child hath stoln.

Thenceforth (as when th' Inchantment

The Castle vanishes or rends)The wasting Cloister with the

Was in one instant dispossest.

At the demolishing, this

To Fairfax fell as by Escheat.

And what both Nuns and Founders will'd'Tis likely better thus fulfill'd,

For if the Virgin prov'd not theirs,

The Cloyster yet remained hers.

Though many a Nun there made her vow,'Twas no Religious-House till now.

From that blest Bed the Heroe came,

Whom France and Poland yet does fame:

Who, when retired here to Peace,

His warlike Studies could not cease;

But laid these Gardens out in

In the just Figure of a Fort;

And with five Bastions it did fence,

As aiming one for ev'ry Sense.

When in the East the Morning

Hangs out the Colours of the Day,

The Bee through these known Allies hums,

Beating the Dian with its Drumms.

Then Flow'rs their drowsie Eylids raise,

Their Silken Ensigns each displayes,

And dries its Pan yet dank with Dew,

And fills its Flask with Odours new.

These, as their Governour goes by,

In fragrant Vollyes they let fly;

And to salute their

Again as great a charge they press:

None for the Virgin Nymph; for

Seems with the Flow'rs a Flow'r to be.

And think so still! though not

With Breath so sweet, or Cheek so faire.

Well shot ye Fireman!

Oh how sweet,

And round your equal Fires do meet;

Whose shrill report no Ear can tell,

But Ecchoes to the Eye and smell.

See how the Flow'rs, as at Parade,

Under their Colours stand displaid:

Each Regiment in order grows,

That of the Tulip Pinke and Rose.

But when the vigilant

Of Stars walks round about the Pole,

Their Leaves, that to the stalks are curl'd,

Seem to their Staves the Ensigns furl'd.

Then in some Flow'rs beloved

Each Bee as Sentinel is shut;

And sleeps so too: but, if once stir'd,

She runs you through, or askes The Word.

Oh Thou, that dear and happy

The Garden of the World ere while,

Thou Paradise of four Seas,

Which Heaven planted us to please,

But, to exclude the World, did

With watry if not flaming Sword;

What luckless Apple did we tast,

To make us Mortal, and The Wast.

Unhappy! shall we never

That sweet Milltia restore,

When Gardens only had their Towrs,

And all the Garrisons were Flow'rs,

When Roses only Arms might bear,

And Men did rosie Garlands wear?

Tulips, in several Colours barr'd,

Were then the Switzers of our Guard.

The Gardiner had the Souldiers place,

And his more gentle Forts did trace.

The Nursery of all things

Was then the only Magazeen.

The Winter Quarters were the Stoves,

Where he the tender Plants removes.

But War all this doth overgrow:

We Ord'nance Plant and Powder sow.

And yet their walks one on the

Who, had it pleased him and God,

Might once have made our Gardens

Fresh as his own and flourishing.

But he preferr'd to the Cinque

These five imaginary Forts:

And, in those half-dry Trenches,

Pow'r which the Ocean might command.

For he did, with his utmost Skill,

Ambition weed, but Conscience till.

Conscience, that Heaven-nursed Plant,

Which most our Earthly Gardens want.

A prickling leaf it bears, and

As that which shrinks at ev'ry touch;

But Flow'rs eternal, and divine,

That in the Crowns of Saints do shine.

The sight does from these Bastions ply,

Th' invisible Artilery;

And at proud Cawood Castle

To point the Battery of its Beams.

As if it quarrell'd in the

Th' Ambition of its Prelate great.

But ore the Meads below it plays,

Or innocently seems to gaze.

And now to the Abbyss I

Of that unfathomable Grass,

Where Men like Grashoppers appear,

But Grashoppers are Gyants there:

They, in there squeking Laugh,

Us as we walk more low then them:

And, from the Precipices

Of the green spir's, to us do call.

To see Men through this Meadow Dive,

We wonder how they rise alive.

As, under Water, none does

Whether he fall through it or go.

But, as the Marriners that sound,

And show upon their Lead the Ground,

They bring up Flow'rs so to be seen,

And prove they've at the Bottom been.

No Scene that turns with Engines

Does oftner then these Meadows change,

For when the Sun the Grass hath vext,

The tawny Mowers enter next;

Who seem like Israaliies to be,

Walking on foot through a green Sea.

To them the Grassy Deeps divide,

And crowd a Lane to either Side.

With whistling Sithe, and Elbow strong,

These Massacre the Grass along:

While one, unknowing, carves the Rail,

Whose yet unfeather'd Quils her fail.

The Edge all bloody from its

He draws, and does his stroke detest;

Fearing the Flesh untimely

To him a Fate as black forebode.

But bloody Thestylis, that

To bring the mowing Camp their Cates,

Greedy as Kites has trust it up,

And forthwith means on it to sup:

When on another quick She lights,

And cryes, he call'd us Israelites;

But now, to make his saying true,

Rails rain for Quails, for Manna Dew.

Unhappy Birds! what does it

To build below the Grasses Root;

When Lowness is unsafe as Hight,

And Chance o'retakes what scapeth spight?

And now your Orphan Parents

Sounds your untimely Funeral.

Death-Trumpets creak in such a Note,

And 'tis the Sourdine in their Throat.

Or sooner hatch or higher build:

The Mower now commands the Field;

In whose new Traverse seemeth wroughtA Camp of Battail newly fought:

Where, as the Meads with Hay, the

Lyes quilted ore with Bodies slain:

The Women that with forks it filing,

Do represent the Pillaging.

And now the careless Victors play,

Dancing the Triumphs of the Hay;

Where every Mowers wholesome

Smells like an Alexanders Sweat.

Their Females fragrant as the

Which they in Fairy Circles tread:

When at their Dances End they kiss,

Their new-made Hay not sweeter is.

When after this 'tis pil'd in Cocks,

Like a calm Sea it shews the Rocks:

We wondring in the River

How Boats among them safely steer.

Or, like the Desert Memphis Sand,

Short Pyramids of Hay do stand.

And such the Roman Camps do

In Hills for Soldiers Obsequies.

This Scene again withdrawing bringsA new and empty Face of things;

A levell'd space, as smooth and plain,

As Clothes for Lilly strecht to stain.

The World when first created

Was such a Table rase and pure.

Or rather such is the

Ere the Bulls enter at Madril.

For to this naked equal Flat,

Which Levellers take Pattern at,

The Villagers in common

Their Cattle, which it closer rase;

And what below the Sith

Is pincht yet nearer by the Breast.

Such, in the painted World,

Davenant with th'Universal Heard.

They seem within the polisht GrassA landskip drawen in Looking-Glass.

And shrunk in the huge Pasture

As spots, so shap'd, on Faces do.

Such Fleas, ere they approach the Eye,

In Multiplyiug Glasses lye.

They feed so wide, so slowly move,

As Constellatious do above.

Then, to conclude these pleasant Acts,

Denton sets ope its Cataracts;

And makes the Meadow truly be(What it but seem'd before) a Sea.

For, jealous of its Lords long stay,

It try's t'invite him thus away.

The River in it self is drown'd,

And Isl's th' astonish Cattle round.

Let others tell the Paradox,

How Eels now bellow in the Ox;

How Horses at their Tails do kick,

Turn'd as they hang to Leeches quick;

How Boats can over Bridges sail;

And Fishes do the Stables scale.

How Salmons trespassing are found;

And Pikes are taken in the Pound.

But I, retiring from the Flood,

Take Sanctuary in the Wood;

And, while it lasts, my self

In this yet green, yet growing Ark;

Where the first Carpenter might

Fit Timber for his Keel have Prest.

And where all Creatures might have shares,

Although in Armies, not in Paires.

The double Wood of ancient

Link'd in so thick, an Union locks,

It like two Pedigrees appears,

On one hand Fairfax, th' other Veres:

Of whom though many fell in War,

Yet more to Heaven shooting are:

And, as they Natures Cradle deckt,

Will in green Age her Hearse expect.

When first the Eye this Forrest

It seems indeed as Wood not Trees:

As if their Neighbourhood so

To one great Trunk them all did mold.

There the huge Bulk takes place, as

To thrust up a Fifth Element;

And stretches still so closely

As if the Night within were hedg'd.

Dark all without it knits;

It opens passable and thin;

And in as loose an order grows,

As the Corinthean Porticoes.

The Arching Boughs unite

The Columnes of the Temple green;

And underneath the winged

Echo about their tuned Fires.

The Nightingale does here make

To sing the Tryals of her Voice.

Low Shrubs she sits in, and

With Musick high the squatted Thorns.

But highest Oakes stoop down to hear,

And listning Elders prick the Ear.

The Thorn, lest it should hurt her,

Within the Skin its shrunken claws.

But I have for my Musick foundA Sadder, yet more pleasing Sound:

The Stock-doves whose fair necks are

With Nuptial Rings their Ensigns chast;

Yet always, for some Cause unknown,

Sad pair unto the Elms they moan.

O why should such a Couple mourn,

That in so equal Flames do burn!

Then as I carless on the

Of gelid Straw-berryes do tread,

And through the Hazles thick

The hatching Thrastles shining Eye,

The Heron from the Ashes top,

The eldest of its young lets drop,

As if it Stork-like did

That Tribute to its Lord to send.

But most the Hewel's wonders are,

Who here has the Holt-felsters care.

He walks still upright from the Root,

Meas'ring the Timber with his Foot;

And all the way, to keep it clean,

Doth from the Bark the Wood-moths glean.

He, with his Beak, examines

Which fit to stand and which to fell.

The good he numbers up, and hacks;

As if he mark'd them with the Ax.

But where he, tinkling with his Beak,

Does find the hollow Oak to speak,

That for his building he designs,

And through the tainted Side he mines.

Who could have thought the tallest

Should fall by such a feeble Strok'!

Nor would it, had the Tree not fedA Traitor-worm, within it bred.(As first our Flesh corrupt

Tempts impotent and bashful Sin.

And yet that Worm triumphs not long,

But serves to feed the Hewels young.

While the Oake seems to fall content,

Viewing the Treason's Punishment.

Thus I, easie Philosopher,

Among the Birds and Trees confer:

And little now to make me,

Or of the Fowles, or of the Plants.

Give me but Wings as they, and

Streight floting on the Air shall fly:

Or turn me but, and you shall seeI was but an inverted Tree.

Already I begin to

In their most-learned Original:

And where I Language want,my

The Bird upon the Bough divines;

And more attentive there doth

Then if She were with Lime-twigs knit.

No Leaf does tremble in the

Which I returning cannot find.

Out of these scatter'd Sibyls

Strange Prophecies my Phancy weaves:

And in one History consumes,

Like Mexique Paintings, all the Plumes.

What Rome,

Greece,

Palestine, ere saidI in this light Mosaick read.

Thrice happy he who, not mistook,

Hath read in Natures mystick Book.

And see how Chance's better

Could with a Mask my studies hit!

The Oak-Leaves me embroyder all,

Between which Caterpillars crawl:

And Ivy, with familiar trails,

Me licks, and clasps, and curles, and hales.

Under this antick Cope I

Like some great Prelate of the Grove,

Then, languishing with ease,

I

On Pallets swoln of Velvet Moss;

While the Wind, cooling through the Boughs,

Flatters with Air my panting Brows.

Thanks for my Rest ye Mossy Banks,

And unto you cool Zephyr's Thanks,

Who, as my Hair, my Thoughts too shed,

And winnow from the Chaff my Head.

How safe, methinks, and strong,

These Trees have I incamp'd my Mind;

Where Beauty, aiming at the Heart,

Bends in some Tree its useless Dart;

And where the World no certain

Can make, or me it toucheth not.

But I on it securely play,

And gaul its Horsemen all the Day.

Bind me ye Woodbines in your 'twines,

Curle me about ye gadding Vines,

And Oh so close your Circles lace,

That I may never leave this Place:

But, lest your Fetters prove too weak,

Ere I your Silken Bondage break,

Do you,

O Brambles, chain me too,

And courteous Briars nail me though.

Here in the Morning tye my Chain,

Where the two Woods have made a Lane;

While, like a Guard on either side,

The Trees before their Lord divide;

This, like a long and equal Thread,

Betwixt two Labyrinths does lead.

But, where the Floods did lately drown,

There at the Ev'ning stake me down.

For now the Waves are fal'n and dry'd,

And now the Meadows fresher dy'd;

Whose Grass, with moister colour dasht,

Seems as green Silks but newly washt.

No Serpent new nor

Remains behind our little Nile;

Unless it self you will mistake,

Among these Meads the only Snake.

See in what wanton harmless

It ev'ry where the Meadow holds;

And its yet muddy back doth lick,

Till as a Chrystal Mirrour slick;

Where all things gaze themselves, and

If they be in it or without.

And for his shade which therein shines,

Narcissus like, the Sun too pines.

Oh what a Pleasure 'tis to

My Temples here with heavy sedge;

Abandoning my lazy Side,

Stretcht as a Bank unto the Tide;

Or to suspend my sliding

On the Osiers undermined Root,

And in its Branches tough to hang,

While at my Lines the Fishes twang!

But now away my Hooks, my Quills,

And Angles, idle Utensils.

The Young Maria walks to night:

Hide trifling Youth thy Pleasures slight.'Twere shame that such judicious

Should with such Toyes a Man surprize;

She that already is the

Of all her Sex, her Ages Aw.

See how loose Nature, in

To her, it self doth recollect;

And every thing so whisht and fine,

Starts forth with to its Bonne Mine.

The Sun himself, of Her aware,

Seems to descend with greater Care,

And lest She see him go to Bed,

In blushing Clouds conceales his Head.

So when the Shadows laid

From underneath these Banks do creep,

And on the River as it

With Eben Shuts begin to close;

The modest Halcyon comes in sight,

Flying betwixt the Day and Night;

And such an horror calm and dumb,

Admiring Nature does benum.

The viscous Air, wheres'ere She fly,

Follows and sucks her Azure dy;

The gellying Stream compacts below,

If it might fix her shadow so;

The Stupid Fishes hang, as

As Flies in Chrystal overt'ane,

And Men the silent Scene assist,

Charm'd with the saphir-winged Mist.

Maria such, and so doth

The World, and through the Ev'ning rush.

No new-born Comet such a

Draws through the Skie, nor Star new-slain.

For streight those giddy Rockets fail,

Which from the putrid Earth exhale,

But by her Flames, in Heaven try'd,

Nature is wholly Vitrifi'd.'Tis She that to these Gardens

That wondrous Beauty which they have;

She streightness on the Woods bestows;

To Her the Meadow sweetness owes;

Nothing could make the River

So Chrystal-pure but only She;

She yet more Pure,

Sweet,

Streight, and Fair,

Then Gardens,

Woods,

Meads,

Rivers are.

Therefore what first She on them spent,

They gratefully again present.

The Meadow Carpets where to tread;

The Garden Flow'rs to Crown Her Head;

And for a Glass the limpid Brook,

Where She may all her Beautyes look;

But, since She would not have them seen,

The Wood about her draws a Skreen.

For She, to higher Beauties rais'd,

Disdains to be for lesser prais'd.

She counts her Beauty to

In all the Languages as hers;

Not yet in those her self

But for the Wisdome, not the Noyse;

Nor yet that Wisdome would affect,

But as 'tis Heavens Dialect.

Blest Nymph! that couldst so soon

Those Trains by Youth against thee meant;

Tears (watry Shot that pierce the Mind;)And Sighs (Loves Cannon charg'd with Wind;)True Praise (That breaks through all defence;)And feign'd complying Innocence;

But knowing where this Ambush lay,

She scap'd the safe, but roughest Way.

This 'tis to have been from the

In a Domestick Heaven nurst,

Under the Discipline

Of Fairfax, and the starry Vere;

Where not one object can come

But pure, and spotless as the Eye;

And Goodness doth it self

On Females, if there want a Male.

Go now fond Sex that on your

Do all your useless Study place,

Nor once at Vice your Brows dare

Lest the smooth Forehead wrinkled

Yet your own Face shall at you grin,

Thorough the Black-bag of your Skin;

When knowledge only could have

And Virtue all those Furows till'd.

Hence She with Graces more

Supplies beyond her Sex the Line;

And, like a sprig of Misleto,

On the Fairfacian Oak does grow;

Whence, for some universal good,

The Priest shall cut the sacred Bud;

While her glad Parents most rejoice,

And make their Destiny their Choice.

Mean time ye Fields,

Springs,

Bushes,

Flow'rs,

Where yet She leads her studious Hours,(Till Fate her worthily translates,

And find a Fairfax for our Thwaites)Employ the means you have by Her,

And in your kind your selves preferr;

That, as all Virgins She preceds,

So you all Woods,

Streams,

Gardens,

Meads.

For you Thessalian Tempe's

Shall now be scorn'd as obsolete;

Aranjeuz, as less, disdain'd;

The Bel-Retiro as constrain'd;

But name not the Idalian Grove,

For 'twas the Seat of wanton Love;

Much less the Dead's Elysian Fields,

Yet nor to them your Beauty yields.'Tis not, what once it was, the World;

But a rude heap together hurl'd;

All negligently overthrown,

Gulfes,

Deserts,

Precipices,

Stone.

Your lesser World contains the same.

But in more decent Order tame;

You Heaven's Center,

Nature's Lap.

And Paradice's only Map.

But now the Salmon-Fishers

Their Leathern Boats begin to hoist;

And, like Antipodes in Shoes,

Have shod their Heads in their Canoos.

How Tortoise like, but not so slow,

These rational Amphibii go?

Let's in: for the dark

Does now like one of them appear.

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Andrew Marvell

Andrew Marvell (31 March 1621 – 16 August 1678) was an English Metaphysical poet, satirist and politician who sat in the House of Commons at var…
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