The Poetry of George Wither Edited by Frank Sidgwick |
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| 3. | 3. BEING LEFT BY A GENTLEMAN IN HIS DINING-ROOM,
WHERE WAS NOTHING BUT A MAP OF
ENGLAND TO ENTERTAIN HIM, HE THUS
TURNED IT INTO VERSE. |
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 | The Poetry of George Wither |  |
3. BEING LEFT BY A GENTLEMAN IN HIS DINING-ROOM, WHERE WAS NOTHING BUT A MAP OF ENGLAND TO ENTERTAIN HIM, HE THUS TURNED IT INTO VERSE.
Fair England in the bosom of the seas,
Amid her two-and-fifty provinces,
Sits like a glorious empress, whose rich throne
Great nymphs of honour come to wait upon.
Amid her two-and-fifty provinces,
Sits like a glorious empress, whose rich throne
Great nymphs of honour come to wait upon.
First in the height of bravery appears
Kent, East-, and South-, and Middle-Saxon shires;
Next, Surrey, Berkshire, and Southampton get,
With Dorset, Wilton, and rich Somerset.
Then Devon, with the Cornish promontory;
Gloucester and Worcester, fair Sabrina's glory.
Then Salop, Suffolk, Norfolk large and fair,
Oxford and Cambridge, that thrice-learned pair.
Then Lincoln, Derby, Yorkshire, Nottingham,
Northampton, Warwick, Stafford, Buckingham.
Chester and Lancaster, with herds well stor'd,
Huntingdon, Hertford, Rutland, Hereford.
Then princely Durham, Bedford, Leicester, and
Northumber-, Cumber-, and cold Westmoreland.
Kent, East-, and South-, and Middle-Saxon shires;
Next, Surrey, Berkshire, and Southampton get,
With Dorset, Wilton, and rich Somerset.
Then Devon, with the Cornish promontory;
Gloucester and Worcester, fair Sabrina's glory.
Then Salop, Suffolk, Norfolk large and fair,
Oxford and Cambridge, that thrice-learned pair.
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Northampton, Warwick, Stafford, Buckingham.
Chester and Lancaster, with herds well stor'd,
Huntingdon, Hertford, Rutland, Hereford.
Then princely Durham, Bedford, Leicester, and
Northumber-, Cumber-, and cold Westmoreland.
Brave English shires, with whom lov'd equally
Welsh Monmouth, Radnor, and Montgomery,
Add all the glory to her train they can;
So doth Glamorgan, Brecknock, Cardigan,
Carnarvon, Denbigh, Merionethshire,
With Anglesea, which o'er the sea doth rear
Her lofty head. And with the first, though last,
Flint, Pembroke, and Carmarthen might be plac'd.
For all of these unto their power maintain
Their mistress England with a royal train.
Yea, for supporters at each hand hath she
The Wight and Man, that two brave islands be.
Welsh Monmouth, Radnor, and Montgomery,
Add all the glory to her train they can;
So doth Glamorgan, Brecknock, Cardigan,
Carnarvon, Denbigh, Merionethshire,
With Anglesea, which o'er the sea doth rear
Her lofty head. And with the first, though last,
Flint, Pembroke, and Carmarthen might be plac'd.
For all of these unto their power maintain
Their mistress England with a royal train.
Yea, for supporters at each hand hath she
The Wight and Man, that two brave islands be.
From these I to the Scottish nymphs had journey'd
But that my friend was back again returned,
Who having kindly brought me to his home,
Alone did leave me in his dining-room,
Where I was fain, and glad I had the hap,
To beg an entertainment of his map.
But that my friend was back again returned,
Who having kindly brought me to his home,
Alone did leave me in his dining-room,
Where I was fain, and glad I had the hap,
To beg an entertainment of his map.
| The Poetry of George Wither | |