 | Vigil and vision |  |
SPENSER.
SPENSER, thou first inspirer of my song,That o'er the hills and meads of Arcady
Thy radiant train of ladies sweet to see
And mail-clad knights the woodways lead'st along,
The eternal laws of honour, right and wrong
Still hymning, who is there can vie with thee
For dear delight and frolic fantasy?
Others in sterner measures and more strong
Of heaven and hell have sung and to a height
O'ervaulting thine have stopped the tuneful reed,
Of love and war discoursing, hap and need:
Yet from their thunder-tide the sated spright
Still to thy tempered woodlands takes its way
And turns for solace to thy leisured lay.
| Vigil and vision | |