Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, AUTUMN. THE THIRD PASTORAL, ORHYLAS AND AEGON, by ALEXANDER POPE


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

AUTUMN. THE THIRD PASTORAL, ORHYLAS AND AEGON, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Beneath the shade a spreading beech displays
Last Line: And the low sun had lengthen'd ev'ry shade.
Subject(s): Autumn; Country Life; Seasons; Fall


To MR. WYCHERLEY

Beneath the Shade a spreading Beech displays,
Hylas and AEgon sung their Rural Lays;
This mourn'd a faithless, that an absent Love,
And Delia's Name and Doris fill'd the Grove.
Ye Mantuan Nymphs, your sacred Succour bring;
Hylas and AEgon's Rural Lays I sing.
Thou, whom the Nine with Plautus' Wit inspire,
The Art of Terence, and Menander's Fire;
Whose Sense instructs us, and whose Humour charms,
Whose Judgment sways us, and whose Spirit warms!
Oh, skill'd in Nature! see the Hearts of Swains,
Their artless Passions, and their tender Pains.
Now setting Phoebus shone serenely bright,
And fleecy Clouds were streak'd with Purple Light;
When tuneful Hylas with melodious Moan
Taught Rocks to weep, and made the Mountains groan.
Go gentle Gales, and bear my Sighs away!
To Delia's Ear the tender Notes convey!
As some sad Turtle his lost Love deplores,
And with deep Murmurs fills the sounding Shores;
Thus, far from Delia, to the Winds I mourn,
Alike unheard, unpity'd, and forlorn.
Go gentle Gales, and bear my Sighs along!
For her, the feather'd Quires neglect their Song;
For her, the Lymes their pleasing Shades deny;
For her, the Lillies hang their heads and dye.
Ye Flow'rs that droop, forsaken by the Spring,
Ye Birds, that left by Summer, cease to sing,
Ye Trees that fade when Autumn-Heats remove,
Say, is not Absence Death to those who love?
Go gentle Gales, and bear my Sighs away!
Curs'd be the Fields that cause my Delia's Stay:
Fade ev'ry Blossom, wither ev'ry Tree,
Dye ev'ry Flow'r, and perish, All but She.
What have I said? -- where-e'er my Delia flies,
Let Spring attend, and sudden Flow'rs arise;
Let opening Roses knotted Oaks adorn,
And liquid Amber drop from ev'ry Thorn.
Go gentle Gales, and bear my Sighs along!
The Birds shall cease to tune their Ev'ning Song,
The Winds to breathe, the waving Woods to move,
And Streams to murmur, e'er I cease to love.
Not bubling Fountains to the thirsty Swain,
Not balmy Sleep to Lab'rers faint with Pain,
Not Show'rs to Larks, or Sunshine to the Bee,
Are half so charming as thy Sight to me.
Go gentle Gales, and bear my Sighs away!
Come, Delia, come; ah why this long Delay?
Thro' Rocks and Caves the Name of Delia sounds,
Delia, each Cave and ecchoing Rock rebounds.
Ye Pow'rs, what pleasing Frensie sooths my Mind!
Do Lovers dream, or is my Delia kind?
She comes, my Delia comes! -- Now cease my Lay,
And cease ye Gales to bear my Sighs away!
Next AEgon sung, while Windsor Groves admir'd;
Rehearse, ye Muses, what your selves inspir'd.
Resound ye Hills, resound my mournful Strain!
Of perjur'd Doris, dying I complain:
Here where the Mountains less'ning as they rise,
Lose the low Vales, and steal into the Skies.
While lab'ring Oxen, spent with Toil and Heat,
In their loose Traces from the Field retreat;
While curling Smokes from Village-Tops are seen,
And the fleet Shades glide o'er the dusky Green.
Resound ye Hills, resound my mournful Lay!
Beneath yon Poplar oft we past the Day:
Oft on the Rind I carv'd her Am'rous Vows,
While She with Garlands hung the bending Boughs:
The Garlands fade, the Vows are worn away;
So dies her Love, and so my Hopes decay.
Resound ye Hills, resound my mournful Strain!
Now bright Arcturus glads the teeming Grain,
Now Golden Fruits on loaded Branches shine,
And grateful Clusters swell with floods of Wine;
Now blushing Berries paint the yellow Grove;
Just Gods! shall all things yield Returns but Love?
Resound ye Hills, resound my mournful Lay!
The Shepherds cry, 'Thy Flocks are left a Prey --'
Ah! what avails it me, the Flocks to keep,
Who lost my Heart while I preserv'd my Sheep.
Pan came, and ask'd, what Magick caus'd my Smart,
Or what Ill Eyes malignant Glances dart?
What Eyes but hers, alas, have Pow'r to move!
And is there Magick but what dwells in Love?
Resound ye Hills, resound my mournful Strains!
I'll fly from Shepherds, Flocks, and flow'ry Plains. --
From Shepherds, Flocks, and Plains, I may remove,
Forsake Mankind, and all the World -- but Love!
I know thee Love! on foreign Mountains bred,
Wolves gave thee suck, and savage Tygers fed.
Thou wert from AEtna's burning Entrails torn,
Got by fierce Whirlwinds, and in Thunder born!
Resound ye Hills, resound my mournful Lay!
Farewell ye Woods! adieu the Light of Day!
One Leap from yonder Cliff shall end my Pains.
No more ye Hills, no more resound my Strains!
Thus sung the Shepherds till th' Approach of Night,
The Skies yet blushing with departing Light,
When falling Dews with Spangles deck'd the Glade,
And the low Sun had lengthen'd ev'ry Shade.





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