Comus (excerpts)

John Milton

 Next Poem          

SONG1-
Sweet Echo, sweetest nymph that liv'st unseen
-
Within thy airy shell
-
By slow Meander's margent green,
-
And in the violet-imbroider'd vale
-
Where the love-lorn nightingale
-
Nightly to thee her sad song mourneth well:
-
Canst thou not tell me of a gentle pair
-
That likest thy Narcissus are?
-
O if thou have
-

Hid them in some flow'ry cave,
-

Tell me but where
-

Sweet Queen of Parley, Daughter of the Sphere,
-

So mayst thou be translated to the skies,
-

And give resounding grace to all heav'ns harmonies.

SONG
-


Sabrina fair
-


Listen where thou art sitting
-


Under the glassy, cool, translucent wave,
-


In twisted braids of lilies knitting
-


The loose train of thy amber-dropping hair;
-


Listen for dear honour's sake,
-


Goddess of the silver lake,
-


Listen and save.


-


Listen and appear to us
-


In name of great Oceanus,
-


By the earth-shaking Neptune's mace,
-


And Tethys' grave majestic pace;
-


By hoary Nereus' wrinkled look,
-


And the Carpathian wizard's hook;
-


By scaly Triton's winding shell,
-


And old soothsaying Glaucus' spell;
-


By Leucothea's lovely hands,
-


And her son that rules the strands;
-


By Thetis' tinsel-slipper'd feet,
-


And the songs of Sirens sweet;
-


By dead Parthenope's dear tomb,
-


And fair Ligea's golden comb,
-


Wherewith she sits on diamond rocks
-


Sleeking her soft alluring locks;
-


By all the nymphs that nightly dance
-


Upon thy streams with wily glance,
-


Rise, rise, and heave thy rosy head
-


From thy coral-pav'n bed,
-


And bridle in thy headlong wave,
-


Till thou our summons answer'd have.
-


Listen and save.


SABRINA RISES, ATTENDED BY WATER-NYMPHS, AND SINGS
-


By the rushy-fringed bank,
-


Where grows the willow and the osier dank,
-


My sliding chariot stays,
-


Thick set with agate, and the azurn sheen
-


Of turkis blue, and em'rald green
-


That in the channel strays,
-


Whilst from off the waters fleet
-


Thus I set my printless feet
-


O'er the cowslip's velvet head,
-


That bends not as I tread;
-


Gentle swain at thy request
-


I am here.

Next Poem 

 Back to John Milton
Get a free collection of Classic Poetry ↓

Receive the ebook in seconds 50 poems from 50 different authors


To be able to leave a comment here you must be registered. Log in or Sign up.