Classic Poem

But let us leave, fair Muse, the banks of Po;
Thetis forsook his brave stream long ago,
And we must after. See, in haste she sweeps
Along the Celtic shores; th' Armorick deeps
She now is ent'ring: bear up then ahead,
And by that time she hath discovered
Our alablaster rocks, we may descry
And ken with her the coasts of Britany.
There will she anchor cast to hear the songs
Of English shepherds, whose all-tuneful tongues
So pleas'd the naiades, they did report
Their songs' perfection in great Nereus' court:
Which Thetis hearing, did appoint a day
When she would meet them in the British Sea,
And thither for each swain a dolphin bring
To ride with her, whilst she would hear him sing.
The time prefix'd was come; and now the star
Of blissful light appear'd, when she her car
Stay'd in the Narrow Seas. At Thames' fair port
The nymphs and shepherds of the Isle resort,
And thence did put to sea with mirthful rounds,
Whereat the billows dance above their bounds,
And bearded goats, that on the clouded head
Of any sea-surveying mountain fed,
Leaving to crop the ivy, list'ning stood
At those sweet airs which did entrance the flood.
In jocund sort the goddess thus they met,
And after rev'rence done, all being set
Upon their finny coursers round her throne,
And she prepar'd to cut the wat'ry zone
Engirting Albion, all their pipes were still.
And Colin Clout began to tune his quill
With such deep art, that every one was given
To think Apollo, newly slid from heav'n,
Had ta'en a human shape to win his love,
Or with the Western swains for glory strove.
He sung th' heroic knights of fairyland
In lines so elegant, of such command,
That had the Thracian play'd but half so well,
He had not left Eurydice in hell.
But ere he ended his melodious song
An host of angels flew the clouds among,
And rapt this swan from his attentive mates
To make him one of their associates
In heaven's fair choir: where now he sings the praise
Of him that is the first and last of days,
Divinest Spenser, heav'n-bred, happy Muse!
Would any power into my brain infuse
Thy worth, or all that poets had before,
I could not praise till thou deserv'st no more.
A damp of wonder and amazement strook
Thetis' attendants; many a heavy look
Follow'd sweet Spenser, till the thick'ning air
Sight's further passage stopp'd. A passionate tear,
Fell from each nymph, no shepherd's cheek was dry
A doleful dirge, and mournful elegy
Flew to the shore; when mighty Nereus' queen,
In memory of what was heard and seen,
Employ'd a factor, fitted well with store
Of richest gems, refined Indian ore,
To raise, in honour of his worthy name,
A pyramis, whose head like winged Fame
Should pierce the clouds, yea, seem the stars to kiss,
And Mausolus' great tomb might shroud in his.
Her will had been performance, had not Fate,
That never knew how to commiserate,
Suborn'd curs'd Avarice to lie in wait
For that rich prey—(gold is a taking bait)—
Who closely lurking like a subtle snake
Under the covert of a thorny brake,
Seiz'd on the factor by fair Thetis sent,
And robb'd our Colin of his monument.
Ye English shepherds, sons of Memory,
For satires change your pleasing melody;
Scourge, rail and curse that sacrilegious hand,
That more than fiend of hell, that Stygian brand,
All-guilty Avarice, that worst of evil,
That gulf-devouring offspring of a devil:
Heap curse on curse so direful and so fell,
Their weight may press his damned soul to hell,
Is there a spirit so gentle can refrain
To torture such? O let a satyr's vein
Mix with that man! to lash this hellish limb,
Or all our curses will descend on him.
For mine own part, although I now commerce
With lowly shepherds in as low a verse,
If of my days I shall not see an end
Till more years press me, some few hours I'll spend
In rough hewn satires, and my busied pen
Shall jerk to death this infamy of men.
And like a Fury glowing coulters bear,
With which—But see how yonder fondlings tear
Their fleeces in the brakes; I must go free
Them of their bonds; rest you here merrily
Till my return, when I will touch a string
Shall make the rivers dance and valleys ring.