270 SELECT . POETRY

FOLDING THE FLOCKS,

SHEPHERDS all, and maidens fair,
Fold your flocks up; for the air
’Gins! to thicken, and the sun
Already his great course hath run.
See the dew-drops how they kiss
Every little flower that is ;
Hanging on their velvet heads,
Like a string of crystal beads.

See the heavy clouds low falling,
And bright Hesperus* down calling
The dead night from underground ;
At whose rising, mists unsound,
Damps and vapours, fly apace,
And hover o’er the smiling face

Of these pastures, where they come,
Striking dead both,bud and bloom :
Therefore from such danger lock
Every one his loved flock ;

And let your dogs lie loose without,
Lest the wolf come as a scout
From the mountain, and ere day,
Bear a lamb or kid away ;

Or the crafty thievish fox

Break upon your simple flocks.

To secure yourself from these

Be not too secure in ease ;

So shall you good shepherds prove,
And deserve your master’s love.

3 *Gins—for begins.
* Hesperus—the evening star.