Act 5.] Whole nights away in mourning; or the owl, 70 that still doth howl Or our great enemy,' Priest. Go, and beware Of after-falling! The. Father, 'tis my care. Enter Daphnis. [Exit. Old Shep. Here comes another straggler; A shame in this young shepherd. Daphnis? Priest. Where hast thou left the rest, that Long before this, grazing upon the green Daph. Thou holy man, Give me a little breathing, 'till I can So heavy tidings! You all know the bow'r Where the chaste Clorin lives, by whose great pow'r Sick men and cattle have been often cur'd; Enter Amarillis, running from her Sullen Amar. If there be Ever a neighbour-brook, or hollow tree, Receive my body, close me up from lust That follows at my heels! be ever just, Thou God of shepherds, Pan, for her dear [shake sake That loves the rivers' brinks, and still doth Priest. This is a night of wonder! Amarill', Amar. Thou blessed man, Honour'd upon these plains, and lov'd of Pan, Hear me, and save from endless infamy, My yet-unblasted flow'r, virginity! By all the garlands that have crown'd that By thy chaste office, and the marriage-bed The tongues, or company of men unpure! Priest. Retire a while [vile Behind this bush, 'till we have known that Abuser of young maidens. Enter Sullen Shepherd. Sull. Shep. Stay thy pace, Most-lov'd Amarillis; let the chase Grow calm and milder; fly me not so fast. I fear the pointed brambles have unlac'd Thy golden buskins; turn again and see Thy shepherd follow, that is strong and free, Able to give thee all content and ease. I am not bashful, virgin; I can please At first encounter, hug thee in mine arm, And give thee many kisses, soft and warm As those the sun prints on the smiling cheek Of plums or mellow peaches; I am sleck And smooth as Neptune, when stern olus Locks up his surly winds, and nimbly thus Can shew my active youth! Why dost thou Remember, Amarillis, it was I That kill'd Alexis for thy sake, and set An everlasting hate 'twixt Amoret And her beloved Perigot; 'twas I [Aly? [lie That drown'd her in the well, where she must Hence with the nightingale will I take part, Both Spenser's and Fletcher's are extremely beautiful, and the sound in both a perfect echo to the sense; yet are they scarce to be named with that noble simile of the nightingale at the end of Georgicks, or with the various descriptions of her in Milton, who was quite enamoured with this bird, from her near resemblance to his own circumstances. Who fed on thoughts that voluntary mov'd Harmonious numbers, as the wakeful bird Sings darkling, and in shadiest covert hid Virgil's simile is also translated in one of Lee's Tragedies. Seward. Enter Priest and Old Shepherd. Clo. Go back again, whate'er thou art; unless [press Smooth maiden thoughts possess thee, do not This hallow'd ground. Go, Satyr, take his hand, And give him present trial. Sat. Mortal, stand, 'Till by fire I have made known Clo. Then boldly speak, why dost thou seek this place? Priest. First, honour'd virgin, to behold thy face, [try Where all good dwells that is; next, for to The truth of late report was giv'n to me: Those shepherds that have met with foul mischance, Thro' much neglect, and more ill governance, Whether the wounds they have may yet endure The open air, or stay a longer cure; And lastly, what the doom may be shall light Upon those guilty wretches, thro' whose spite Attempt upon their lives. Clo. Fume all the ground, And sprinkle holy water; for unsound Their very souls are, that the ground goes back, And shrinks to feel the sullen weight of black Peri. My dear, dear Amoret, how happy 72 Perhaps will cleanse thee; once again.] This is the reading of the old quarto's; the folio of 1679 says, This perhaps will cleanse again; which is copied by the later editions. We have followed the older books; and though the construction, according to the usage of our Author, is a little centious, yet the meaning is obvious. If any alteration were necessary, we might read, with less violence to the old text, 73 reading. Perhaps will leave thee. brought the race.] As he brought but two, I hope I have restored the true Seward. Enter Priest. Priest. Bright maid, I have perform'd your will; the swain In whom such heat and black rebellions reign In sorrow of her fault: Great fair, recall Clo. I am content to pardon; call her in. shew After this stormy cloud! Go, Satyr, go, [Satyr brings Amarillis in. Sat. Come forward, maiden; do not lurk, Nor hide your face with grief and shame; Now or never get a name That may raise thee, and re-cure Clo. Young shepherdess, now you are To virgin state, be so, and so remain Of some good shepherd force thee to remove; 14 the lazy clowns Of duty in themselves; correct the blood With thrifty bits, and labour; let the flood, Or the next neighb'ring spring, give remedy To greedy thirst and travail, not the tree That hangs with wanton clusters; let not wine, Unless in sacrifice, or rites divine, Be ever known of shepherds; have a care, May ever fear to tempt their blowing youth; Priest. Kneel, ev'ry shepherd, while with pow'rful hand I bless your after-labours, and the land You feed your flocks upon. Great Pan defend you From misfortune, and amend you, Keep you from those dangers still That are follow'd by your will; Give ye means to know at length All your riches; all your strength Cannot keep your foot from falling To lewd lust, that still is calling At your cottage, 'till his pow'r Bring again that golden hour Of peace and rest to ev'ry soul, May his care of you control All diseases, sores, or pain, That in after-time may reign, Either in your flocks or you; Give ye all affections new, New desires, and tempers new, That ye may be ever true! Now rise and go; and, as ye pass away, Sing to the God of Sheep that happy lay That honest Dorus 76 taught ye; Dorus, he That was the soul and God of melody. [They all sing. That feed their heifers in the budded brooms.] This instance of laziness is taken from Spenser, Shepherd's Calendar, February. The meaning, I believe, is, You that loitering let your herds run wild among the broom which grows on the worst soil, and don't drive them into the best pastures. 75 And all those blessings, &c.] In the third edition, this speech is given to Alexis singly? and continued so in the later copies. 76 That honest Dorus.] This fine eulogy on some poet beloved and almost adored by our Author, I take to have been meant of Spenser for these reasons. He seems to speak of one who THE SONG. All ye woods, and trees, and bow'rs, In the pleasant springs or brakes, To our sound, With his honour and his name He is great, and he is just, He is ever good, and must who lived in the preceding age, but was dead before the Faithful Shepherdess was published. This answers to none so well as Spenser, he and Shakespeare being the only very great poets that immediately preceded our Author; but the latter lived some years after the publication of this piece. In the next place, as he had just before taken an expression from Spenser, so he greatly imitates his manner in the following song, and inserts one expression of his in it literally. Daffadillies, Roses, pinks, and loved lillies, which Spenser had thus expressed. Shepherd's Calendar, April. 77 'Strow me the ground with daffadowndillies And cowslips, and kingcups, and loved lillies. shall I stray Seward. In the middle air, &c.] The character of the Attendant Spirit in Comus is this Satyr under another shape and name. The Satyr in the third is sent by Pan to guide aright the wandering shepherds, and to protect virtue in distress. The Attendant Spirit has much the same office: He is sent by Jupiter to protect the Virtuous against the enchantments of Comus. When they have finished their office, they both give the same account of their power and velocity. In imitation of the lines now referred to, and to the two last of the Satyr's first speech: (I must go, and I must run, The Attendant Spirit thus takes leave of the audience. 'But now my task is smoothly done, I can fly, or I can run, Quickly to the green earth's end, Where the bow'd welkin slow doth bend; And from thence can soar as soon To the corners of the Moon.' The two first and two last of Milton's lines are directly taken from Fletcher: The sky slowly bending to the horizon, in the middle couplet, is a noble image; but I can scarce think that it can alone vie with the variety and beauties in Fletcher; such as, making suit to the pale Queen of Night for a Moon-beam; darting through the waves that fall on each side in snowy fleeces; and catching the wanton fawns, and flies whose woven wings are dyed by the summer of many colours. But it may perhaps be thought that Milton has improved the measure, and made his sound more an echo to his sense; if he has, he only imitates in this the following lines, which are a fine instance of this species of beauty. I will dance Round about these woods, as quick Down the lawns, and down the vales, Faster than the windmill sails. The Italians have the honour of being the introducers of the Dramatick Pastoral, but I cannot upon examination find that Fletcher has borrowed a single sentiment or expression from any of them, except the name of the Faithful Shepherdess from the Pastor Fido. 78 The sailing rack.] The winds, says Lord Bacon, which move the clouds above, VOL. I. 3 G Seward. which |