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By hoary Nereus' wrinkled look,
And the Carpathian wisard's hook,
By scaly Triton's winding shell,
And old soothsaying Glaucus' spell,
By Leucothea's lovely hands,
And her son that rules the strands,
By Thetis' tinsel-slipper'd feet,
And the songs of Sirens sweet,
By dead Parthenope's dear tomb,
And fair Ligea's golden comb,
Wherewith she sits on diamond rocks,
Sleeking her soft alluring locks,
By all the nymphs that nightly dance
Upon thy streams with wily glance,
Rise, rise, and heave thy rosy head
From thy coral-paven bed,

And bridle in thy headlong wave,

Till thou our summons answer'd have.

875

880

885

Listen and save.

SABRINA rises, attended by water-nymphs,

and sings.

By the rushy-fringed bank,

Where grows the willow and the osier dank,
My sliding chariot stays,

890

871 hoary] Virg. Georg. iv. 392. Grandevus Nereus.' Newton. 872 Carpathian] Carpathius vates.' Stat. Ach. i. 136. Val. Flacc. ii. 317.

890 rushy] I would read 'rush-yfringed.' Warton.

Thick set with agate, and the azurn sheen

Of turkis blue, and emerald green,

That in the channel strays;

Whilst from off the waters fleet,

Thus I set my printless feet

O'er the cowslip's velvet head,

That bends not as I tread;

Gentle Swain, at thy request
I am here.

SP. Goddess dear,

We implore thy pow'rful hand
To undo the charmed band

Of true virgin here distrest,

895

900

905

Through the force, and through the wile
Of unblest inchanter vile.

SABR. Shepherd, 'tis my office best

To help insnared chastity:
Brightest Lady, look on me;
Thus I sprinkle on thy breast
Drops that from my fountain pure
I have kept of precious cure,
Thrice upon thy finger's tip,
Thrice upon thy rubied lip;

893 azurn] Ital. 'azzurino.' Todd.

910

915

894 green] On gems in Sabrina's stream. See Cowley's Silva,

p. 46.

897 printless] Shakesp. Temp. act v. s. 1. 'And ye, that on the sands with printless foot. Warton.

907 inchanter] Faer. Q. iii. 12, 31. And her before the vile enchaunter sate.'

Todd.

915 rubied] Wither. Mist. of Philarete, (Percy's Rel. iii. 264.) 'Wanton eye or lip of ruby. Todd.

Next this marble venom'd seat,

Smear'd with gums of glutinous heat,

I touch with chaste palms moist and cold:
Now the spell hath lost his hold;

And I must haste ere morning hour

To wait in Amphitrite's bow'r.

920

SABRINA descends, and the LADY rises out of her seat.

SP. Virgin, daughter of Locrine

Sprung of old Anchises' line,
May thy brimmed waves for this
Their full tribute never miss

From a thousand petty rills,
That tumble down the snowy hills:
Summer drouth, or singed air
Never scorch thy tresses fair,
Nor wet October's torrent flood
Thy molten crystal fill with mud;
May thy billows roll ashore
The beryl, and the golden ore;
May thy lofty head be crown'd

918 moist] The moone though moist and cold she be.'

Randolph's Poems, p. 49.

925

930

924 brimmed] 'brined,' Warburton; a wrong and tasteless alteration: 'brimmed' is connected with the two following lines. Lucret. ii. 362,

'Fluminaque illa queunt, summis labentia ripis.'

930 flood] Sylv. Du Bartas, p. 171.

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Defil'd the crystal of smooth sliding floods.' Dunster.

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With many a tow'r and terrace round,
And here and there thy banks upon

With groves of myrrh and cinnamon.

Come, Lady, while heav'n lends us grace,

Let us fly this cursed place,

935

Lest the sorcerer us entice
With some other new device.
Not a waste, or needless sound,
Till we come to holier ground;
I shall be your faithful guide
Through this gloomy covert wide,
And not many furlongs thence
Is your Father's residence,
Where this night are met in state
Many a friend to gratulate
His wish'd presence, and beside
All the swains that there abide,
With jigs, and rural dance resort ;
We shall catch them at their sport,
And our sudden coming there
Will double all their mirth and cheer;
Come let us haste, the stars grow high,
But night sits monarch yet in the mid sky.

940

945

950

955

The Scene changes, presenting Ludlow town and the President's castle; then come in country dancers, after them the ATTENDANT SPIRIT, with the Two BROTHERS, and the LADY.

951 there] So Milton's own edition, the MS. 'near.'

SONG.

SP. Back, Shepherds, back, enough your play,

Till next sunshine holiday;

Here be without duck or nod

Other trippings to be trod

Of lighter toes, and such court guise

As Mercury did first devise,

With the mincing Dryades,

On the lawns, and on the leas.

960

965

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Their faith, their patience, and their truth,
And sent them here through hard assays
With a crown of deathless praise,

To triumph in victorious dance

O'er sensual folly, and intemperance.

975

960 duck] K. Richard III. act i. sc. 3. Duck with French nods. Warton.

972 hard] Milton is fond of this expression. P. L. iv. 932. 'from hard assays.' P. Reg. i. 264. iv. 478. Todd.

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