The bustuous bukkis rakis furth on raw,
Heirdis of hertis throw the thyck wod schaw,
The zoung fownys followand the dun days',
Kiddis skippand throw ronnys eftir rais',
In lesuris and on leyis litill lammes

Full tait and trig socht bletand to thare dammes.
On salt stremes wolk Dorida and Thetis,
By rynnand strandis, nymphs and naiades,
Sic as we clepe wenschis and damyssellis,
In gersy grauis wanderand by spring wellis,
Of blomed branchis and flouris quhyte and rede
Plettand their lusty chaplettis for thare hede:
Sum sang ring sangis, ledis, and roundis,
With vocis schil, quhil all the dale resoundis.-
Dame naturis menstralis on that uthyr parte,
Thare blissful bay intonyng euery arte,
To bete thare amouris of thare nychtis bale,
The merle, the mauys, and the nychtingale,
With mirry notis myrthfully furth brist,
Enforsing thaym quha micht do clink it best :
The kowschot croudis and pykkis on the ryse,
The stirling changis diuers steuynnys nyse*,
The sparrow chirmis in the wallis clyft,
Goldspink and lintquhite fordynnand the lyft,
The gukkow galis, and so quhitteris the quale,
Quhil ryveris reirdita, schawis, and euery dale,
And tendir twistis trymblit on the treis,

For birdis sang, and bemyng of the beis,

In werblis dulce of heuinlie armonyis,
The larkis loude releischand in the skyis,
Louis thare lege with tonys curious;

Bayth to dame Natur, and the fresche Venus,
Rendring hie laudis in thare obseruance,

Quhais suggourit throttis made glade hartis dance,
And al smal foulis singis on the spray;

Welcum the lord of licht, and lampe of day,
Welcum fosterare of tendir herbis grene,
Welcum quhikkynnar of flurist flouris schene,
Welcum support of euery rute and vane,
Welcum confort of al kind frute and grane,
Welcum the birdis beilde apoun the brere,
Welcum maister and reulare of the zere,

Welcum walefare of husbandis at the plewis,
Welcum reparare of woddis, treis, and bewis,
Welcum depaynter of the blomyt medis,
Welcum the lyffe of euery thing that spredis,
Welcum storare of all kynd bestial,

Welcum be thy bricht bemes gladand al.

The poetical beauties of this specimen will be relished by every reader who is fond of lively touches of fancy, and rural nagery*. But the verses will have another merit with those critics who love to contemplate the progress of composition, and to mark the original workings of genuine nature; as they are the effusion of a mind not overlaid by the descriptions of other poets, but operating, by its own force and bias, in the delineation of a vernal landscape, on such objects as really occurred. On this account, they deserve to be better understood:

and I have therefore translated them into plain modern English prose. In the mean time, this experiment will serve to prove their native excellence. Divested of poetic numbers and expression, they still retain their poetry; and, to use the comparison of an elegant writer on a like occasion, appear like Ulysses, still a king and conqueror, although disguised like a peasant, and lodged in the cottage of the herdsman Eumaeus.

"Fresh Aurora, the wife of Tithonus, issued from her saffron bed, and ivory house. She was cloathed in a robe of crimson and violet-colour; the cape vermilion, and the border purple: she opened the windows of her ample hall, overspread with roses, and filled with balm, or nard. At the same time, the crystal gates of heaven were thrown open, to illumine the world. The glittering streamers of the orient diffused purple streaks mingled with gold and azure.-The steeds of the sun, in red harness of rubies, of colour brown as the berry, lifted their heads above the sea, to glad our hemisphere: the flames burst from their nostrils:-While shortly, apparelled in his luminous array, Phebus, bearing the blazing torch of day, issued from his royal palace; with a golden crown, glorious visage, curled locks bright as the chrysolite or topaz, and with a radiance intolerable.-The fiery sparks, bursting from his eyes, purged the air, and gilded the new verdure.-The golden vanes of his throne covered the ocean with a glittering glance, and the broad waters were all in a blaze, at the first glimpse of his appearance. It was glorious to see the winds appeased, the sea becalmed, the soft season, the serene firmament, the still air, and the beauty of the watery scene. The silver-scaled fishes, on the gravel, gliding hastily, as it were from the heat or sun, through clear streams, with fins shining brown as cinnabar, and chissel-tails, darted here and there. The new lustre, enlightening all the land, beamed on the small pebbles on the sides of rivers, and on the strands, which looked like beryl: while the reflection of the rays played on the banks in variegated gleams; and Flora threw forth her blooms under the feet of the sun's brilliant horses. The bladed soil was em

broidered with various hues. Both wood and forest were darkened with boughs; which, reflected from the ground, gave a shadowy lustre to the red rocks. Towers, turrets, battlements, and high pinnacles, of churches, castles, and every fair city, seemed to be painted; and, together with every bastion and story, expressed their own shape on the plains. The glebe, fearless of the northern blasts, spread her broad bosom.-The corn-crops, and the new-sprung barley, recloathed the earth with a gladsome garment.—The variegated vesture of the valley covered the cloven furrow; and the barley-lands were diversified with flowery weeds. The meadow was besprinkled with rivulets: and the fresh moisture of the dewy night restored the herbage which the cattle had cropped in the day. The blossoms in the blowing garden trusted their heads to the protection of the young sun. Rank ivy-leaves overspread the wall of the rampart. The blooming hawthorn cloathed all his thorns in flowers. The budding clusters of the tender grapes hung end-long, by their tendrils, from the trellises. The gems of the trees unlocking, expanded themselves into the foliage of Nature's tapestry. There was a soft verdure after balmy showers. The flowers smiled in various colours on the bending stalks. Some red, &c. Others, watchet, like the blue and wavy sea; speckled with red and white; or, bright as gold. The daisy unbraided her little coronet. The grass stood embattelled, with banewort, &c. The seeded down flew from the dandelion. Young weeds appeared among the leaves of the strawberries. Gay gilliflowers, &c. The rose buds, putting forth, offered their red vernal lips to be kissed; and diffused fragrance from the crisp scarlet that surrounded their golden seeds. Lilies, with white curling tops, shewed their crests open. The odorous vapour moistened the silver webs that hung from the leaves. The plain was powdered with round dewy pearls. From every bud, scyon, herb, and flower, bathed in liquid fragrance, the bee sucked sweet honey.-The swans clamoured amid the rustling reeds; and searched all the lakes and gray rivers where to build their nests. The red bird of the sun

lifted his coral crest, crowing clear among the plants and rutis gent, picking his food from every path, and attended by his wives Toppa and Partlet. The painted peacock with gaudy plumes, unfolded his tail like a bright wheel, inshrouded in his shining feathers, resembling the marks of the hundred eyes of Argus. Among the boughs of the twisted olive, the small birds framed their artful nests, or along the thick hedges or rejoiced with their merry mates on the tall oaks. In the secret nook, or in the clear windows of glass, the spider full busily wove her sly net, to ensnare the little gnat or fly. Under the boughs that screen the valley, or within the pale-inclosed park, the nimble deer trooped in ranks, the harts wandered through the thick woody shaws, and the young fawns followed the dappled does. Kids skipped through the briers after the roes; and in the pastures and leas, the lambs, full tight and trig, bleated to their dams. Doris and Thetis walked on the salt ocean; and Nymphs and Naiads, wandering by spring-wells in the grassy groves, plaited lusty chaplets for their hair, of blooming branches, or of flowers red and white. They sung, and danced, &c.-Meantime, dame Nature's minstrels raise their amorous notes, the ring-dove coos and pitches on the tall copse, the starling whistles her varied descant, the sparrow chirps in the clefted wall; the goldfinch and linnet filled the skies, the cuckow cried, the quail twittered; while rivers, shaws, and every dale resounded; and the tender branches trembled on the trees, at the song of the birds, and the buzzing of the bees," &c.

This landscape may be finely contrasted with a description of WINTER, from the Prologue to the seventh book", a part of which I will give in literal prose.

"The fern withered on the miry fallows: the brown moors assumed a barren mossy hue: banks, sides of hills, and bottoms, grew white and bare: the cattle looked hoary from the dank weather: the wind made the red weed waver on the dike: From crags and the foreheads of the yellow rocks hung great icicles, in length like a spear: the soil was dusky and gray, hp. 200. fol. edit.