KING ARTHUR. 1684 or 1685.

Osmond. Say, where's thy fellow-servant Philidel? Why comes not he?

Grimbald. For he's a puling sprite.

Why didst thou choose a tender airy form,
Unequal to the mighty work of mischief?
His make is flitting, soft, and yielding atoms;
He trembles at the yawning gulf of hell,

Nor dares approach the flame, lest he should singe
His gaudy silken wings.

He sighs when he should plunge a soul in sulphur,
As with compassion touch'd of foolish men.

Come if you dare, our trumpets sound;
Come if you dare, the foes rebound:

We come, we come, we come, we come,

Says the double, double, double beat of the thund'ring drum.

Now they charge on amain,

Now they rally again:

The gods from above the mad labour behold,

And pity mankind that will perish for gold.

The fainting Saxons quit their ground,
Their trumpets languish in the sound;
They fly, they fly, they fly, they fly;
Victoria, Victoria, the bold Britons cry.

Now the victory's won,

To the plunder we run:

We return to our lasses, like fortunate traders,

Triumphant with spoils of the vanquish'd invaders.

Merlin. What art thou, spirit? of what name or order? (For I have view'd thee in my magic glass, Making thy moan among the midnight wolves, That bay the silent moon:) speak, I conjure thee. 'Tis Merlin bids thee, at whose awful wand The pale ghost quivers, and the grim fiend gasps. Philidel. An airy shape, the tend'rest of my kind, The last seduc'd, and least deform'd of hell; Half white, and shuffled in the crowd, I fell, Desirous to repent, and loath to sin ; Awkward in mischief, piteous of mankind.

My name is Philidel, my lot in air,

Where next beneath the moon, and nearest heav'n,
I soar, and have a glimpse to be receiv'd;

For which the swarthy demous envy me.

PHILIDEL sings.

Hither this way, this way bend,
Trust not that malicious fiend:
Those are false deluding lights,
Wafted far and near by sprites.
Trust them not, for they'll deceive ye;
And in bogs and marshes leave ye.

If you step, no danger thinking,
Down you fall, a furlong sinking:
'Tis a fiend who has annoy'd ye;

Name but Heav'n, and he'll avoid ye.

Conon. Some wicked phantom, foe to human kind, Misguides our steps.

Albanact. I'll follow him no further.

Grimb. speaks. By hell she sings them back, in my despite.

I had a voice in heav'n, ere sulph'rous steams

Had damp'd it to a hoarseness: but I'll try.

He sings.

Let not a moon-born elf mislead ye
From your prey, and from your glory.
Too far, alas, he has betray'd ye:

Follow the flames, that wave before ye:
Sometimes seven, and sometimes one;
Hurry, hurry, hurry on.

See, see, the footsteps plain appearing,
That way Oswald chose for flying:
Firm is the turf, and fit for bearing,
Where yonder pearly dews are lying.
Far he cannot hence be gone;
Hurry, hurry, hurry on.

Con. Furl up our colours, and unbrace our drums;
Dislodge betimes; and quit this fatal coast.
Arthur. Have we forgot to conquer?
Aurelius. Cast off hope:

Th' embattled legions of fire, air, and earth,
Are banded for our foes.

For going to discover, with the dawn,

Yon southern hill, which promis'd to the sight
A rise more easy to attack the fort,

Scarce had we stepp'd on the forbidden ground,
When the woods shook, the trees stood bristling up;
A living trembling nodded through the leaves.

Arth. Poplars, and aspen-boughs, a panic fright. Con. We thought so too, and doubled still our pace; But straight a rumbling sound, like bellowing winds, Rose and grew loud; confus'd with howls of wolves, And grunts of bears, and dreadful hiss of snakes; Shrieks more than human; globes of hail pour'd down An armed winter, and inverted day.

Osm. But love shall thaw ye.

I'll show his force in countries caked with ice,

Where the pale pole-star in the north of heav'n
Sits high, and on the frosty winter broods;
Yet there love reigns: for proof, this magic wand
Shall change the mildness of sweet Britain's clime
To Iceland, and the farthest Thule's frost,

Where the proud god, disdaining winter's bounds,
O'erleaps the fences of eternal snow,

And with his warmth supplies the distant sun.

CUPID sings.

What ho, thou genius of the clime, what ho!
Liest thou asleep beneath those hills of snow?
Stretch out thy lazy limbs; awake, awake,
And winter from thy furry mantle shake.

GENIUS arises.

Genius. What pow'r art thou, who from below
Hast made me rise, unwillingly, and slow,
From beds of everlasting snow?

See'st thou not how stiff and wondrous old,
Far unfit to bear the bitter cold,

I can scarcely move, or draw my breath:
Let me, let me, freeze again to death.
Cupid. Thou doating fool, forbear, forbear;
What dost thou dream of freezing here?
At Love's appearing, all the sky clearing,
The stormy winds their fury spare:
Winter subduing, and spring renewing,

My beams create a more glorious year.
Thou doating fool, forbear, forbear,
What dost thou dream of freezing here?
Genius. Great Love, I know thee now;
Eldest of the gods art thou:

Heav'n and earth by thee were made;
Human nature

Is thy creature,

Every where thou art obey'd.

Man. See, see, we assemble,

Thy revels to hold:

Though quiv'ring with cold

We chatter and tremble.

Cupid. 'Tis I, 'tis I, 'tis I, that have warm'd

In spite of cold weather,

I've brought you together:

ye:

'Tis I, 'tis I, 'tis I, that have warm'd ye.

Phil. And therefore since thou loath'st etherial light, The morning sun shall beat on thy black brows;

The breath thou draw'st shall be of

upper air, Hostile to thee, and to thy earthy make;

So light, so thin, that thou shalt starve for want
Of thy gross food, till gasping thou shalt lie,
And blow it back all sooty to the sky.

Venus. Fairest isle, all isles excelling,

Seat of pleasures and of loves;
Venus here will choose her dwelling,
And forsake her Cyprian groves.

Cupid, from his fav'rite nation,
Care and envy will remove;
Jealousy, that poisons passion,
And despair that dies for love.

Gentle murmurs, sweet complaining,
Sighs that blow the fire of love;
Soft repulses, kind disdaining,

Shall be all the pains you prove.

Ev'ry swain shall pay his duty,
Grateful ev'ry nymph shall prove;
And as these excel in beauty,

Those shall be renown'd for love.