A PASTORAL. [Young Corydon, a blithesome swain] Elizabeth Hands (née Herbert) 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. T141063 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.

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A PASTORAL . [ Young Corydon , a blithesome swain ] Young Corydon , a blithesome swain , As ever tended sheep , Upon the verdant banks of Leam , Was wont his flock to keep . One ev'ning when the rising Moon Was peeping in the flood , And ev'ry bird that sings by day , Sat silent in the wood . With dog and staff he took his way , And whistled as he went ; To gather up his straying ewes , Was all the shepherd meant . And while he sought the meadows round , Where they were wont to stray , A maid more lovely than his ewes , Came tripping o'er the way . The sheep no longer fill'd his thoughts , The nymph was all his care ; And thus the gentle shepherd-swain , Address'd the tender fair . Corydon . Why comes my nymph so late abroad , To wander in the vale ; To hear the murmuring of the flood , And see the moon shine pale ? Or is it an appointed hour To meet some happy swain ? For maids are seldom seen alone So late upon the plain . Pastora . I've been a visit to a friend , That lives by yonder grove , Where shepherds tell their tender tales , And list'ning virgins rove : I with my friend conversing stood , Abstracted from all care , The sun went down , and night drew on Before I was aware . Corydon . The swains were surely all unkind , That such a maid as you Should e'er be seen to walk alone , And in the ev'ning too : Now Corydon most gladly will Attend you if he may ; You see the moon is hasting on , Then why should we delay ? He said , and took her by the hand ; O happy shepherd he ! Pastora too was pleas'd as well As shepherdess could be . The swain no longer sought around , His straying ewes to find : O happy nymphs that live in plains , Where shepherds are so kind .