 | Landscapes in verse |  |
And now we listen to the honest tale
Of cottage fondness, and of cottage faith
Told by the matron, while the shepherd swain
(Instructed well to read the secret heart)
Traces with skill, even to its rosy source,
The crimson flush that paints Cleone's cheek,
As, by the scene subdued, I seem more close
To fold her tender form:—This counsel kind
Distill'd at length like honey from his lip:
“Yes, youth and maiden, I can see your hearts
“Twine round each other like your circling arms:—
“Behold! in us, a pair grown old together,
“Our morning tender, and our evening true;
“Then live and love, as we have lov'd and liv'd;—
“Go with our mutual blessing on your heads;
“And when in richer domes, ye see pale Care
“Lift her proud crest to cheat the gaping croud
“With specious shews of rapture, seldom found
“In palace or in hut—then softly say,
“As many a year remote when we are laid
“Beneath the verdant turf, ye hither come,
“Here dwelt the Couple of the Cot;—here oft
“We sat us down in courtship's blooming hour,
“And swore, if Hymen e'er should join our hands,
“To live as faithful, and to love as long.”
Of cottage fondness, and of cottage faith
Told by the matron, while the shepherd swain
(Instructed well to read the secret heart)
Traces with skill, even to its rosy source,
The crimson flush that paints Cleone's cheek,
As, by the scene subdued, I seem more close
To fold her tender form:—This counsel kind
Distill'd at length like honey from his lip:
“Yes, youth and maiden, I can see your hearts
24
“Behold! in us, a pair grown old together,
“Our morning tender, and our evening true;
“Then live and love, as we have lov'd and liv'd;—
“Go with our mutual blessing on your heads;
“And when in richer domes, ye see pale Care
“Lift her proud crest to cheat the gaping croud
“With specious shews of rapture, seldom found
“In palace or in hut—then softly say,
“As many a year remote when we are laid
“Beneath the verdant turf, ye hither come,
“Here dwelt the Couple of the Cot;—here oft
“We sat us down in courtship's blooming hour,
“And swore, if Hymen e'er should join our hands,
“To live as faithful, and to love as long.”
| Landscapes in verse | |