Spring - The First Pastoral ; Or Damon Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: AABBCCDEFGHHIJKKLLMM NN OCCBBPP QQQRRSS OOOPPTT QBBNNOONN OOONN QQQNN OQQOO QRRNN OOONN QOOBB OMMEE QUVNN OCCWP QOOOO OOOQQ QXXYYOONNNN| First in these fields I try the sylvan strains | A |
| Nor blush to sport on Windsor's blissful plains | A |
| Fair Thames flow gently from thy sacred spring | B |
| While on thy banks Sicilian Muses sing | B |
| Let vernal airs tho' trembling osiers play | C |
| And Albion's cliffs resound the rural lay | C |
| You that too wise for pride too good for pow'r | D |
| Enjoy the glory to be great no more | E |
| And carrying with you all the world can boast | F |
| To all the world illustriously are lost | G |
| O let my Muse her slender reed inspire | H |
| Till in your native shades you tune the lyre | H |
| So when the Nightingale to rest removes | I |
| The Thrush may chant to the forsaken groves | J |
| But charm'd to silence listens while she sings | K |
| And all th' aerial audience clap their wings | K |
| Soon as the flocks shook off the nightly dews | L |
| Two Swains whom Love kept wakeful and the Muse | L |
| Pour'd o'er the whitening vale their fleecy care | M |
| Fresh as the morn and as the season fair | M |
| The dawn now blushing on the mountain's side | N |
| Thus Daphnis spoke and Strephon thus reply'd | N |
| - | |
| Daphnis | O |
| Hear how the birds on ev'ry bloomy spray | C |
| With joyous musick wake the dawning day | C |
| Why sit we mute when early linnets sing | B |
| When warbling Philomel salutes the spring | B |
| Why sit we sad when Phosphor shines so clear | P |
| And lavish nature paints the purple Year | P |
| - | |
| Strephon | Q |
| Sing then and Damon shall attend the strain | Q |
| While yon' slow oxen turn the furrow'd Plain | Q |
| Here the bright crocus and blue vi'let glow | R |
| Here western winds on breathing roses blow | R |
| I'll stake yon' lamb that near the fountain plays | S |
| And from the brink his dancing shade surveys | S |
| - | |
| Daphnis | O |
| And I this bowl where wanton Ivy twines | O |
| And swelling clusters bend the curling vines | O |
| Four figures rising from the work appear | P |
| The various seasons of the rolling year | P |
| And what is that which binds the radiant sky | T |
| Where twelve fair Signs in beauteous order lie | T |
| - | |
| Damon | Q |
| Then sing by turns by turns the Muses sing | B |
| Now hawthorns blossom now the daisies spring | B |
| Now leaves the trees and flow'rs adorn the ground | N |
| Begin the vales shall ev'ry note rebound | N |
| Inspire me Phoebus in my Delia's praise | O |
| With Waller's strains or Granville's moving lays | O |
| A milk white bull shall at your altars stand | N |
| That threats a fight and spurns the rising sand | N |
| - | |
| Daphnis | O |
| O Love for Sylvia let me gain the prize | O |
| And make my tongue victorious as her eyes | O |
| No lambs or sheep for victims I'll impart | N |
| Thy victim Love shall be the shepherd's heart | N |
| - | |
| Strephon | Q |
| Me gentle Delia beckons from the plain | Q |
| Then hid in shades eludes her eager swain | Q |
| But feigns a laugh to see me search around | N |
| And by that laugh the willing fair is found | N |
| - | |
| Daphnis | O |
| The sprightly Sylvia trips along the green | Q |
| She runs but hopes she does not run unseen | Q |
| While a kind glance at her pursuer flies | O |
| How much at variance are her feet and eyes | O |
| - | |
| Strephon | Q |
| O'er golden sands let rich Pactolus flow | R |
| And trees weep amber on the banks of Po | R |
| Blest Thames's shores the brightest beauties yield | N |
| Feed here my lambs I'll seek no distant field | N |
| - | |
| Daphnis | O |
| Celestial Venus haunts Idalia's groves | O |
| Diana Cynthus Ceres Hybla loves | O |
| If Windsor shades delight the matchless maid | N |
| Cynthus and Hybla yield to Windsor shade | N |
| - | |
| Strephon | Q |
| All nature mourns the Skies relent in show'rs | O |
| Hush'd are the birds and clos'd the drooping flow'rs | O |
| If Delia smile the flow'rs begin to spring | B |
| The skies to brighten and the birds to sing | B |
| - | |
| Daphnis | O |
| All nature laughs the groves are fresh and fair | M |
| The Sun's mild lustre warms the vital air | M |
| If Sylvia smiles new glories gild the shore | E |
| And vanquish'd nature seems to charm no more | E |
| - | |
| Strephon | Q |
| In spring the fields in autumn hills I love | U |
| At morn the plains at noon the shady grove | V |
| But Delia always absent from her sight | N |
| Nor plains at morn nor groves at noon delight | N |
| - | |
| Daphnis | O |
| Sylvia's like autumn ripe yet mild as May | C |
| More bright than noon yet fresh as early day | C |
| Ev'n spring displeases when she shines not here | W |
| But blest with her 'tis spring throughout the year | P |
| - | |
| Strephon | Q |
| Say Daphnis say in what glad soil appears | O |
| A wond'rous Tree that sacred Monarchs bears | O |
| Tell me but this and I'll disclaim the prize | O |
| And give the conquest to thy Sylvia's eyes | O |
| - | |
| Daphnis | O |
| Nay tell me first in what more happy fields | O |
| The Thistle springs to which the Lily yields | O |
| And then a nobler prize I will resign | Q |
| For Sylvia charming Sylvia shall be thine | Q |
| - | |
| Damon | Q |
| Cease to contend for Daphnis I decree | X |
| The bowl to Strephon and the lamb to thee | X |
| Blest Swains whose Nymphs in ev'ry grace excel | Y |
| Blest Nymphs whose Swains those graces sing so well | Y |
| Now rise and haste to yonder woodbine bow'rs | O |
| A soft retreat from sudden vernal show'rs | O |
| The turf with rural dainties shall be crown'd | N |
| While op'ning blooms diffuse their sweets around | N |
| For see the gath'ring flocks to shelter tend | N |
| And from the Pleiads fruitful show'rs descend | N |
Alexander Pope
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