William Collins (1721-1759)
A Song from Shakespeare's Cymbeline
1 To fair Fidele's grassy tomb
2 Soft maids and village hinds shall bring
3Each op'ning sweet, of earliest bloom,
4 And rifle all the breathing spring.
5 No wailing ghost shall dare appear,
6 To vex with shrieks this quiet grove:
7But shepherd lads assemble here,
8 And melting virgins own their love.
9 No wither'd witch shall here be seen,
10 No goblins lead their nightly crew:
11The female fays shall haunt the green,
12 And dress thy grave with pearly dew!
13 The redbreast oft at ev'ning hours
14 Shall kindly lend his little aid:
15With hoary moss, and gather'd flow'rs,
16 To deck the ground where thou art laid.
17 When howling winds, and beating rain,
18 In tempests shake the sylvan cell,
19Or midst the chase on ev'ry plain,
20 The tender thought on thee shall dwell.
21 Each lonely scene shall thee restore,
22 For thee the tear be duly shed:
23Belov'd, till life could charm no more;
24 And mourn'd, till Pity's self be dead.
Online text copyright © 2009, Ian Lancashire (the Department of English) and the University of Toronto.
Published by the Web Development Group, Information Technology Services, University of Toronto Libraries.
Original text: William Collins, An Epistle: Address to Sir Thomas Hanmer (1744).
First publication date:
1744
RPO poem editor: N. J. Endicott
RP edition: 2RP 2.691.
Recent editing: 4:2002/2/3
Form: Long Hymnal Measure
Rhyme: abab
Other poems by William Collins
