[Page 69]

A PASTORAL. [Young Corydon, a blithesome swain]

1 Young Corydon, a blithesome swain,
2 As ever tended sheep,
3 Upon the verdant banks of Leam,
4 Was wont his flock to keep.
5 One ev'ning when the rising Moon
6 Was peeping in the flood,
7 And ev'ry bird that sings by day,
8 Sat silent in the wood.
9 With dog and staff he took his way,
10 And whistled as he went;
11 To gather up his straying ewes,
12 Was all the shepherd meant.
13 And while he sought the meadows round,
14 Where they were wont to stray,
15 A maid more lovely than his ewes,
16 Came tripping o'er the way.
17 The sheep no longer fill'd his thoughts,
18 The nymph was all his care;
19 And thus the gentle shepherd-swain,
20 Address'd the tender fair.
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Corydon.
21 Why comes my nymph so late abroad,
22 To wander in the vale;
23 To hear the murmuring of the flood,
24 And see the moon shine pale?
25 Or is it an appointed hour
26 To meet some happy swain?
27 For maids are seldom seen alone
28 So late upon the plain.
Pastora.
29 I've been a visit to a friend,
30 That lives by yonder grove,
31 Where shepherds tell their tender tales,
32 And list'ning virgins rove:
33 I with my friend conversing stood,
34 Abstracted from all care,
35 The sun went down, and night drew on
36 Before I was aware.
Corydon.
37 The swains were surely all unkind,
38 That such a maid as you
39 Should e'er be seen to walk alone,
40 And in the ev'ning too:
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41 Now Corydon most gladly will
42 Attend you if he may;
43 You see the moon is hasting on,
44 Then why should we delay?
45 He said, and took her by the hand;
46 O happy shepherd he!
47 Pastora too was pleas'd as well
48 As shepherdess could be.
49 The swain no longer sought around,
50 His straying ewes to find:
51 O happy nymphs that live in plains,
52 Where shepherds are so kind.

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Title (in Source Edition): A PASTORAL. [Young Corydon, a blithesome swain]
Author: Elizabeth Hands (née Herbert)
Themes:
Genres: pastoral

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Source edition

Hands, Elizabeth, 1746-1815. The death of Amnon. A poem. With an appendix: containing pastorals, and other poetical pieces. By Elizabeth Hands. [Coventry]: Printed for the author, by N. Rollason, Coventry, M,DCCLXXXIX., 1789, pp. 69-71. [40],127,[1]p.; 8⁰. (ESTC T141063) (Page images digitized from a copy in the Bodleian Library [Dunston B 961 (1)].)

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Typography, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation have been cautiously modernized. The source of the text is given and all significant editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. This ECPA text has been edited to conform to the recommendations found in Level 5 of the Best Practices for TEI in Libraries version 4.0.0.

Other works by Elizabeth Hands (née Herbert)