A paraphrase upon the canticles and some select hymns of the New and Old Testament, with other occasional compositions in English verse. By Samuel Woodford |
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 | A paraphrase upon the canticles |  |
Down in a Vale, between two shady Groves,
Whose Trees in sighs bewail'd their distant Loves,
And o're a Stream, which gently glid below;
Stretcht their long Arms, and leafy Heads did bow,
As if each others Necks they would embrace,
And murmuring chid the interrupting space;
Sylvius the wretched Shepherd chose to lay,
Clelias remains, and his own Vows to pay.
The Tomb nor Marble was, nor glitterant Brass,
No weighty Pile, but Bank of Turfy Grass,
Which he himself cast up, and all around,
With Winter Roses strewd the sacred Ground.
Close by a mournful Tablet hung, whose Verse
Was thus engrav'd—
Whose Trees in sighs bewail'd their distant Loves,
And o're a Stream, which gently glid below;
Stretcht their long Arms, and leafy Heads did bow,
As if each others Necks they would embrace,
And murmuring chid the interrupting space;
Sylvius the wretched Shepherd chose to lay,
Clelias remains, and his own Vows to pay.
The Tomb nor Marble was, nor glitterant Brass,
No weighty Pile, but Bank of Turfy Grass,
Which he himself cast up, and all around,
With Winter Roses strewd the sacred Ground.
Close by a mournful Tablet hung, whose Verse
Was thus engrav'd—
| A paraphrase upon the canticles | |