Nature's full blessings would be well dispensed And she no whit encumbered with her store; Shall I go on? Or have I said enow? To him that dares Fain would I something say;—yet to what end? The sublime notion and high mystery That must be uttered to unfold the sage And serious doctrine of Virginity; 780 And thou art worthy that thou shouldst not know 790 That hath so well been taught her dazzling fence; Yet, should I try, the uncontrolled worth Of this pure cause would kindle my rapt spirits To such a flame of sacred vehemence That dumb things would be moved to sympathise, And the brute Earth would lend her nerves, and shake, Till all thy magic structures, reared so high, Were shattered into heaps o'er thy false head. Comus. She fables not. I feel that I do fear 800 Her words set off by some superior power; And, though not mortal, yet a cold shuddering dew To some of Saturn's crew. I must dissemble, VOL. I. Against the canon laws of our foundation. I must not suffer this; yet 'tis but the lees But this will cure all straight; one sip of this 810 The BROTHERS rush in with swords drawn, wrest his glass out of his In stony fetters fixed and motionless. Yet stay be not disturbed; now I bethink me, 820 Some other means I have which may be used, Which once of Melibœus old I learnt, The soothest shepherd that e'er piped on plains. There is a gentle Nymph not far from hence, That with moist curb sways the smooth Severn stream: Sabrina is her name: a virgin pure; Whilom she was the daughter of Locrine, 830 That had the sceptre from his father Brute. 840 And underwent a quick immortal change, And throw sweet garland wreaths into her stream 850 Of pansies, pinks, and gaudy daffodils. And, as the old swain said, she can unlock The clasping charm, and thaw the numbing spell, For maidenhood she loves, and will be swift To aid a virgin, such as was herself, And add the power of some adjuring verse. Sabrina fair, Song. Listen where thou art sitting Under the glassy, cool, translucent wave, The loose train of thy amber-dropping hair ; Goddess of the silver lake, Listen and save! Listen, and appear to us, In name of great Oceanus. By the earth-shaking Neptune's mace, And Tethys' grave majestic pace; By hoary Nereus' wrinkled look, 860 870 By Leucothea's lovely hands, And her son that rules the strands; By all the Nymphs that nightly dance And bridle in thy headlong wave, Till thou our summons answered have. 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, Thick set with agate, and the azurn sheen That in the channel strays; Whilst from off the waters fleet That bends not as I tread. Spir. Goddess dear, We implore thy powerful hand Of true virgin here distressed Through the force and through the wile Of unblessed enchanter vile. 880 890 900 Sabr. Shepherd, 'tis my office best To help ensnared chastity. Brightest Lady, look on me. Thus I sprinkle on thy breast Smeared with gums of glutinous heat, I touch with chaste palms moist and cold. And I must haste ere morning hour To wait in Amphitrite's bower. SABRINA descends, and THE LADY rises out of her seat. Spir. Virgin, daughter of Locrine, Sprung of old Anchises' line, May thy brimmèd waves for this Their full tribute never miss From a thousand petty rills, That tumble down the snowy hills : May thy lofty head be crowned With many a tower and terrace round, With groves of myrrh and cinnamon. 910 920 930 Come, Lady; while Heaven lends us grace, Let us fly this cursed place, Lest the sorcerer us entice With some other new device. 940 |