Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, A BOOK OF AIRS: SONG 19. THE FAIRY QUEEN PROSERPINA, by THOMAS CAMPION



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

A BOOK OF AIRS: SONG 19. THE FAIRY QUEEN PROSERPINA, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Hark, all you ladies that do sleep!
Last Line: Apes in avernus.
Subject(s): Fairies; Love; Morning; Elves


Hark, all you ladies that do sleep!
The fairy queen
Bids you awake, and pity them that weep.
You may do in the dark
What the day doth forbid.
Fear not the dogs that bark;
Night will have all hid.
But if you let your lovers moan,
The fairy queen
Will send abroad her fairies everyone,
That shall pinch black and blue
Your white hands and fair arms,
That did not kindly rue
Your paramours' harms.
In myrtle arbours on the downs,
The fairy queen
This night by moonshine, leading merry rounds,
Holds a watch with sweet Love,
Down the dale, up the hill,
No plaints nor griefs may move
Their holy vigil.
All you that will hold watch with Love,
The fairy queen
Will make you fairer than Diana's dove.
Roses red, lilies white,
And the clear damask hue,
Shall on your cheeks alight.
Love will adorn you.
All you that love, or loved before,
The fairy queen
Bids you increase that loving humour more.
They that have not yet fed
On delight amorous,
She vows that they shall lead
Apes in Avernus.





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