And first, soft whispers through the assembly went ; The attentive audience, thus his will declared: 66 "The Cause and Spring of motion from above Hung down on earth the golden chain of Love; "Great was the effect, and high was his intent, "When peace among the jarring seeds he sent ; 'Fire, flood, and earth and air by this were bound, 66 1020 1025 "And Love, the common link, the new creation crowned. "The chain still holds; for though the forms decay, "Eternal matter never wears away: "The same first mover certain bounds has placed, "How long those perishable forms shall last; "Nor can they last beyond the time assigned 66 By that all-seeing and all-making Mind : "Shorten their hours they may, for will is free, "But never pass the appointed destiny. "So men oppressed, when weary of their breath, "Throw off the burden, and suborn their death. 66 Then, since those forms begin, and have their end, "On some unaltered cause they sure depend: "Parts of the whole are we, but God the whole, 1030 1035 1040 "That being which the whole can only give : 1045 He perfect, stable; but imperfect we, 66 Subject to change, and different in degree; "Plants, beasts, and man; and, as our organs are, "This law the omniscient Power was pleased to give, "That every kind should by succession live; 1055 "That individuals die, his will ordains; "The propagated species still remains. "The monarch oak, the patriarch of the trees, "Shoots rising up, and spreads by slow degrees; "Three centuries he grows, and three he stays, "And towns and towers their fatal periods meet : "Forsaken of their springs,* and leave their channels dry. "So man, at first a drop, dilates with heat, "Then, formed, the little heart begins to beat; 1066 For instances of this Gallicism, forsaken of, see "The Medal," line 79 and note. "Secret he feeds, unknowing, in the cell; "At length, for hatching ripe, he breaks the shell, 1070 1075 1080 1085 "Take what he gives, since to rebel is vain ; 1090 "From future shame, from sickness, and from grief; 1095 "Then round our death-bed every friend should run, 1100 1105 "From a foul prison to free air restored. "Their sorrow hurts themselves; on him is lost, ΠΙΟ "To thank the gracious gods for what they give, "Possess our souls, and, while we live, to live? "Ordain we then two sorrows to combine, 1115 "And in one point the extremes of grief to join; *Reckless printed in the folio edition retchless. This line has been spoilt in all modern editions by changing joy us into joyous. "That thence resulting joy may be renewed, 1120 "Of my free people in full parliament. "Long love to her has borne the faithful knight, "And well deserved, had Fortune done him right: "'Tis time to mend her fault, since Emily 1125 66 66 By Arcite's death from former vows is free; If you, fair sister, ratify the accord, "And take him for your husband and your lord, "'Tis no dishonour to confer your grace "On one descended from a royal race; 1130 "And were he less, yet years of service past "From grateful souls exact reward at last. 66 Pity is Heaven's and yours; nor can she find "A throne so soft as in a woman's mind." He said; she blushed; and as o'erawed by might, And blessed with nuptial bliss the sweet laborious night. 1135 1140 One fired the bridegroom, and one warmed the bride; 1145 And long-attending Hymen from above Thus Heaven, beyond the compass of his thought, THE COCK AND THE FOX, OR THE TALE OF THE NUN'S PRIEST, FROM CHAUCER.* THERE lived, as authors tell, in days of yore, And pinched her belly, with her daughters two, The cattle in her homestead were three sows, An ewe called Mally, and three brinded cows. Of savoury smell; and rushes strewed the ground. On which full many a slender meal she made, Nor knew she what the spleen or vapours meant. But white and black was all her homely cheer; Brown bread, and milk (but first she skimmed her bowls), And rashers of singed bacon on the coals. On holy days, an egg or two at most; 30 35 Chaucer's "Tale of the Nun's Priest," which Dryden has freely translated, and produced with the new title of "The Cock and the Fox," was probably taken from a poem of Marie of France in Norman-French, "Dou Coc et dou Werpil," which again was borrowed from the old French metrical "Roman de Renart." + Mr. R. Bell has substituted dale for cell, dale being the word in Chaucer. Cell may have been a misprint for dell, but cell is the word in the folio edition. Scandal, that spares no king, though ne'er so good, And sure their likeness showed them near allied. 60 But make the worst, the monarch did no more Some lines have been maintained by this alone, Though loth, and let him work his wicked will : By this her husband's heart she did obtain ; 65 70 75 80 85 |