Spenser had dedicated & this Countess of Derby his years of the cllive" 1591, "the not worthy of yourself, net such as perhaps by food acceptance thereof ye may hereafter cull out a more meet & memorable eindex

148

own excellent dist

1634 ARCADES.

The is Amaryllisy in

"Cobi Clont's come home

Warton says, "The peerage -book of the countess is the poetry ofher

Part of an Entertainment presented to the Countess Dowager "
of Derby, at Harefield, by some noble persons of her family;
who appear on the scene in pastoral habit, moving toward
the seat of state, with this song.

Cambridge "WW at his pour ga

SONG I

tter inserted Part ofte underme
Look, Nymphs and Shepherds, look,
What sudden blaze of majesty
Is that which we from hence descry,
Too divine to be mistook;

Maske

tat

Warton.

10

a vel oftheport, marred (22) shanse (who had a hoop of players asse Eart derk (2) Ford Ellienere, Chancellor before Bacon

Mark what radiant state she spreads,
In circle round her shining throne,

15

Shooting her beams like silver threads;r stryes of can

This, this is she alone,
Sitting like a Goddess bright,
In the centre of her light.

Might she the wise Latona be,
Or the tower'd Cybele,
Mother of a hundred Gods?
Juno dares not give her odds;

radiating from point underwriter. Comites

Who had thought this clime had held
A deity so unparallel'd?

20

25

As they come forward, the GENIUS of the wood acted by names appears, and turning toward them, speaks. 77-9,62-3

GEN. Stay, gentle Swains, for though in this

disguise,

c

I see bright honour sparkle through your eyes;
Of famous Arcady ye are, and sprung
Of that renowned flood, so often sung,
Divine Alphéus, who by secret sluice
Stole under seas to meet his Arethuse;
And ye, the breathing roses of the wood,
Fair silver-buskin'd Nymphs, as great and good,

23

give] Too lightly expressed for the occasion. Hurd.
30 Alpheus] Virg. Æn. iii. 694.

Alpheum, fama est, huc Elidis amnem
Occultas egisse vias subter mare, qui nunc
Ore, Arethusa, tuo,' &c.

Newton

30

Qualis Berecynthia mater

awes hippies turita per vibes

Invehitur own

Latu Deum parter, centorn complex repot
Innes colicolas

35

40

I know this quest of yours, and free intent
Was all in honour and devotion meant
To the great mistress of yon princely shrine,
Whom with low reverence I adore as mine,
And with all helpful service will comply
To further this night's glad solemnity;
And lead ye where ye may more near behold
What shallow-searching Fame has left untold;
Which I full oft amidst these shades alone
Have sat to wonder at, and gaze upon :
For know, by lot from Jove I am the Power
Of this fair wood, and live in oaken bower,
To nurse the saplings tall, and curl the grove
With ringlets quaint, and wanton windings wove;
And all my plants I save from nightly ill
Of noisome winds, and blasting vapours chill:
And from the boughs brush off the evil dew,
And heal the harms of thwarting thunder blue,
Or what the cross dire-looking planet smites,
Or hurtful worm with canker'd venom bites.
When evening gray doth rise, I fetch my round
Over the mount, and all this hallow'd ground; 55

47 off ten

45

46 curl] Jonson's Mask at Welbeck, 1633, ver. 15.
'When was old Sherwood's head more quaintly curl’d.'
Warton.

so brush] Tempest, act i. sc. 4.

'As wicked dew as e'er my mother brush'd.'

and P. L. v. ver. 429. Warton.

62

cross] Shakesp. Jul. Cæs. act i. sc. 3.

'And when the cross blue lightning seem'd to open

The breast of heaven.'

Warton.

50

"bun jardens" "Penseroso" 50. The flamin, is deprater to ~

པ་

And early, ere the odorous breath of morn
Awakes the slumb'ring leaves, or tassel'd horn
Shakes the high thicket, haste I all about,
Number my ranks, and visit every sprout

Lad wore

The Muds who when they

With puissant words, and murmurs made to bless;
But else, in deep of night when drowsiness
Hath lock'd up mortal sense, then listen I
To the celestial Sirens' harmony, enquished the firen love their
That sit upon the nine infolded spheres, feather a topher
And sing to those that hold the vital shears,
And turn the adamantine spindle round,

On which the fate of Gods and men is wound.
Such sweet compulsion doth in music lie,
To lull the daughters of Necessity,

And keep unsteady Nature to her law,

And the low world in measur'd motion draw
After the heavenly tune, which none can hear
Of human mould, with gross unpurged ear;
And yet such music worthiest were to blaze
The peerless height of her immortal praise,
Plate Republic 14

65

70

75

73 gross] Compare Shakesp. Merchant of Venice, act v.

sc. 1.

'There's not the smallest orb which thou behold'st,
But in his motion like an angel sings,

Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubims:
Such harmony is in immortal sounds!

But whilst this muddy vesture of decay

Doth grossly close us in, we cannot hear it.

Shakesp. Mid. N. D. act iii. sc. 1.

And I will purge thy mortal grossness so, &c.

Warton.

And what the no

on earth now has ever

Leard this Harre Symphony Shall all above the moon's sphere be thereto.

our feeble ears, when

mute Kather
let as accuse our
not able or not worth of receive the souner of to

Whose lustre leads us, and for her most fit,
If my inferior hand or voice could hit
Inimitable sounds: yet as we go,

Whate'er the skill of lesser Gods can show,
I will assay, her worth to celebrate,

And so attend ye toward her glittering state;
Where ye may all that are of noble stem
Approach, and kiss her sacred vesture's hem.

It state : seat of state

SONG II.

aeropriate ehm is this foriased

go

95

SONG III.

NYMPHS and Shepherds dance no more

89 star] 'Sun-proof arbours.' Sylvester's Du Bartas, 171, and G. Peele's David and Bethsabe, 1599.

'This shade, sun-proof, is yet no proof for thee.'

Warton and Todd.

(we carried pure ».
& chan

music may be heard: If one

Way but the starry K now clear hearts, as erst did Pythagoras. Then tht our ears Sound & be filled with that most sweet music of the ever. of the ever wheeling ; & all theif shouted, as it were, retur. to the solder