Who as they sung, would take the prisoned soul
And lap it in Elysium; 5 Scylla wept,

And chid her barking waves into attention;
And fell Charybdis murmured soft applause:
Yet they in pleasing slumber lulled the sense,
And in sweet madness robbed it of itself;
But such a sacred and home-felt delight,
Such sober certainty of waking bliss

I never heard till now. I'll speak to her,

And she shall be my queen. Hail, foreign wonder,
Whom certain these rough shades did never breed;
Unless the goddess that in rural shrine

Dwell'st here with Pan or Sylvan, by blest song
Forbidding every bleak unkindly fog

To touch the prosperous growth of this tall wood.
Lady. Nay, gentle shepherd, ill is lost that praise
That is addressed to unattending ears;

Not any boast of skill, but extreme shift
How to regain my sever'd company,
Compell'd me to awake the courteous Echo

To give me answer from her mossy couch.

Com. What chance, good lady, hath bereft you thus?
Lady. Dim darkness, and this leafy labyrinth.
Com. Could that divide you from near-ushering
guides?

Lady. They left me weary on a grassy turf.
Com.
By falsehood, or discourtesy, or why?
Lady. To seek i' th' valley some cool friendly spring.
Com. And left your fair side all unguarded, lady?
Lady. They were but twain, and purpos'd quick return.
Com. Perhaps forestalling night prevented them.
Lady. How easy my misfortune is to hit !
Com. Imports their loss, beside the present need?
Lady. No less than if I should my brothers lose.

Com.

Lady.
Com.

Were they of manly prime, or youthful bloom? As smooth as Hebe's their unrazor'd lips. Two such I saw, what time the labour'd ox In his loose traces from the furrow came, And the swink't hedger at his supper sate; I saw them under a green mantling vine That crawls along the side of yon small hill, Plucking ripe clusters from the tender shoots; Their port was more than human, as they stood. I took it for a faëry vision

Of some gay creatures of the element

That in the colours of the rainbow live,

And play i' the plighted clouds. I was awe-strook,
And as I past, I worshiped; if those you seek,
It were a journey like the path to Heav'n,

To help you find them..

Lady.

Gentle villager,

What readiest way would bring me to that place?
Com. Due west it rises from this shrubby point.
Lady. To find out that, good shepherd, I suppose,
In such a scant allowance of star-light,

Would overtask the best land-pilot's art,

Without the sure guess of well-practis'd feet.

Com. I know each lane, and every alley green,
Dingle, or bushy dell of this wild wood,
And every bosky 8 bourn from side to side,
My daily walks and ancient neighbourhood:
And if your stray attendance be yet lodg'd,
Or shroud within these limits, I shall know
Ere morrow wake, or the low-roosted lark
From her thatched pallet rouse; if otherwise,
I can conduct you, lady, to a low
But loyal cottage, where you may be safe
Till further quest.

Lady.

Shepherd, I take thy word,

And trust thy honest offer'd courtesy,

Which oft is sooner found in lowly sheds
With smoky rafters, than in tapestry halls
And courts of princes, where it first was nam'd,
And yet is most pretended: in a place
Less warranted than this, or less secure,

I cannot be, that I should fear to change it.
Eye me, blest Providence, and square my trial
To my proportioned strength! Shepherd, lead on.

Milton.

LXVIII.

A TRAGEDY REHEARSED.*

Enter UNDER PROMPTER.

Und. Promp. Sir, the scene is set, and every thing is ready to begin, if you please.

Puff Egad, then we'll lose no time.

Under Promp. Though, I believe, sir, you will find it very short, for all the performers have profited by the kind permission you granted them.

Puff. Hey! what?

Und. Promp. You know, sir, you gave them leave to cut out or omit whatever they found heavy or unnecesary to the plot, and I must own they have taken very liberal advantage of your indulgence.

Puff. Well, well.-They are in general very good judges, and I know I am luxuriant.-Now, Mr. Hopkins, as soon as you please.

From The Critic,

Und. Promp. [To the Orchestra.] Gentlemen, will you play a few bars of something, just to

Puff. Ay, that's right; for as we have the scenes and dresses, egad, we'll go to 't, as if it was the first night's performance ;-but you need not mind stopping between the acts-[Exit UNDER PROMPTER.-Orchestra play— then the bell rings.] So! stand clear, gentlemen. Now you know there will be a cry of Down! down!-Hats off!-Silence !-Then up curtain, and let us see what our painters have done for us. [Curtain rises.

SCENE-Tilbury Fort.

Two SENTINELS discovered asleep.

Dangle. Tilbury Fort!-very fine indeed!
Puff. Now, what do you think I open with?
Sneer. Faith I can't guess-

Puff. A clock.-Hark !-[Clock strikes.] I open with a clock striking, to beget an awful attention in the audience: it also marks the time, which is four o'clock in the morning, and saves a description of the rising sun, and a great deal about gilding the eastern hemisphere.

Dang. But pray, are the sentinels to be asleep?
Puff. Fast as watchmen.

Sneer. Isn't that odd though at such an alarming crisis? Puff. To be sure it is,—but smaller things must give way to a striking scene at the opening; that's a rule. And the case is, that two great men are coming to this very spot to begin the piece now it is not to be supposed they would open their lips, if these fellows were watching them; so, egad, I must either have sent them off their posts, or set them asleep.

Sneer. Oh, that accounts for it.—But tell us, who are these coming?

Puff. These are they-Sir Walter Raleigh, and Sir

Christopher Hatton.

You'll know Sir Christopher by

his turning out his toes-famous, you know, for his dancing. I like to preserve all the little traits of character. Now attend.

"Enter SIR Walter RaleIGH and SIR CHRISTOPHER HATTON, Sir Christ. True, gallant Raleigh!"

Dang. What they had been talking before?

Puff. O yes; all the way as they came along.—[To the Actors.] I beg pardon, gentlemen, but these are particular friends of mine, whose remarks may be of great service to us-[To SNEER and DANGLE.] Don't mind interrupting them whenever any thing strikes you.

"Sir Christ. True, gallant Raleigh!

But oh, thou champion of thy country's fame,
There is a question which I yet must ask :
A question which I never ask'd before-

What mean these mighty armaments?

This general muster? and this throng of chiefs?"

Sneer. Pray, Mr. Puff, how came Sir Christopher Hatton never to ask that question before?

Puff. What, before the play began? how the plague
Dang. That's true, i' faith!
[could he?
Puff. But you will hear what he thinks of the matter.

"Sir Christ. Alas! my noble friend, when I behold

Yon tented plains in martial symmetry

Array'd; when I count o'er yon glittering lines
Of crested warriors, where the proud steed's neigh
And valour-breathing trumpet's shrill appeal,
Responsive vibrate on my listening ear;
When virgin majesty herself I view,
Like her protecting Pallas, veil'd in steel,
With graceful confidence exhort to arms!
When, briefly, all I hear or see bears stamp
Of martial vigilance and stern defence,
I cannot but surmise-forgive, my friend,
If the conjecture's rash-I cannot but
Surmise the state some danger apprehends!"