FLORIMELIA, the First PASTORAL. Mary Leapor Alexander Huber Editor Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford
Broad Street Oxford OX1 3BG UK
Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive
Taylor Institution Library St Giles' Oxford OX1 3NA UK info@eighteenthcenturypoetry.org https://www.eighteenthcenturypoetry.org/
Oxford This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. T127827 p. 413 K101776.000 Leapor, Mrs. (Mary), 1722-1746. Poems upon several occasions: By Mrs. Leapor of Brackley in Northamptonshire. London printed: and sold by J. Roberts 1748 pp. 183-187. 15,[5],282p. ; 8⁰.

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FLORIMELIA , the First PASTORAL . By Mr. NEWTON . OF Florimelia and her Charms I sing , Fair as the Blossoms of the smiling Spring ; Whose lovely Temples wore a Myrtle Wreath , That serv'd to shade her glowing Cheeks beneath : How wou'd that Brow , which never knew to frown , Become the Splendor of an awful Crown ; For , by the lustre of her shining Eyes , You'd take her for an Empress in disguise : Those graceful Limbs tho' clad in humble Green , Wou'd suit a Princess , nor disgrace a Queen : Yet a plain Crook adorn'd her snowy Hands , Fair as the Fleeces of her tender Lambs : Her Task it was , those tender Lambs to lead , O'er the tall Mountain on the fertile Mead : Where the clear Fountains gently murmur by , And sounding Grottos to her Flute reply : Her Flute and Song delude the tedious Day , And her soft Hours calmly glide away . In Smiles the Fair One view'd the rising Sun , In Smiles beheld him when his Race was done : And when his Beams had bid the Fields adieu , And the damp Meadows shone with pearly Dew ; Pent in their Fold she leaves her wanton Care , And to her home returns the happy Fair : 'Twas a low Cottage , humble as their Fate , Where an old Father met her at the Gate : This Hind was call'd Asophus of the Plain , A Name much valu'd by each honest Swain : On whose grave Brow were seen the Marks of Time , No more his Cheeks confess'd their healthy Prime : Dim were his Eyes : Those Eye-balls that had seen Full fourscore Springs array'd in sprightly Green : Child of his Age was Florimel the Fair ; And she alone his Comfort and his Care . Their little House was plac'd beneath a Hill , Whose Verge was water'd by a streaming Rill : The Stranger here no gilded Spires saw , For this low Roof was thatch'd with humble Straw ; Mosaick here nor Fret-work there was none , Nor Venice Glass to sparkle in the Sun : Its only Window was of Osier made , Full South it look'd and seldom knew the Shade , Where by the Sun this careful Peasant knew , How o'er his Head the swift-wing'd Minutes flew ; A little Orchard too was planted nigh , And the cool River roll'd its Waters by : In whose clear Stream the pendent Willows lave , And the weak Bullrush trembl'd o'er the Wave : Within the Banks soft Water-cresses spring , Where the pleas'd Heron prunes her dabbled Wing . Thus dwelt Asophus — happier far than he Whose Slaves approach him with a bending Knee ; His willing Eye-lids in soft Slumbers close , No midnight Revels break his lov'd Repose ; No dark Intrigue for open Vengeance calls , Nor Envy dwelt within his peaceful Walls : But his calm Days in one smooth Circle run ; He blest the rising and declining Sun , A Stranger both to Sickness and to Sin : 'Twas Health without and Happiness within , While by his Side his Florimelia sung , And his fond Soul upon her Musick hung : Like him no Parent lov'd his darling Care , No Child like her so duteous and so fair : Him with crumb'd Milk both Morn and Eve she fed , And smooth'd the Pillows for his weary Head : With her his Moments gently glide away , Who dress'd in Smiles the Ev'ning and the Day . Hear this , ye great Ones , whose unwieldy Store Is still embitter'd with a Wish for more ; Who strive to climb on Fortune's slipp'ry Hill , And swallow Ruin in a golden Pill . But learn from hence that Happiness can dwell , With a plain Peasant in his humble Cell : She loves the Village and the harmless Hind , With a clear Conscience and a chearful Mind ; And the gay Wantons vainly search around , For Bliss which only is with Virtue found .