Imtiation of Spenser: Imtiation of Spenser

NOW Morning from her orient chamber came,
And her first footsteps touch�d a verdant hill;
Crowning its lawny crest with amber flame,
Silv�ring the untainted gushes of its rill;
Which, pure from mossy beds, did down distill,
And after parting beds of simple flowers,
By many streams a little lake did fill,
Which round its marge reflected woven bowers,
And, in its middle space, a sky that never lowers.

There the king-fisher saw his plumage bright
Vieing with fish of brilliant dye below;
Whose silken fins, and golden scales� light
Cast upward, through the waves, a ruby glow:
There saw the swan his neck of arched snow,
And oar�d himself along with majesty;
Sparkled his jetty eyes; his feet did show
Beneath the waves like Afric�s ebony,
And on his back a fay reclined voluptuously.

Ah! could I tell the wonders of an isle
That in that fairest lake had placed been,
I could e�en Dido of her grief beguile;
Or rob from aged Lear his bitter teen:
For sure so fair a place was never seen,
Of all that ever charm�d romantic eye:
It seem�d an emerald in the silver sheen
Of the bright waters; or as when on high,
Through clouds of fleecy white, laughs the coerulean sky.

And all around it dipp�d luxuriously
Slopings of verdure through the glossy tide,
Which, as it were in gentle amity,
Rippled delighted up the flowery side;
As if to glean the ruddy tears, it tried,
Which fell profusely from the rose-tree stem!
Haply it was the workings of its pride,
In strife to throw upon the shore a gem
Outvieing all the buds in Flora�s diadem.

* * * * * * *
[EDMONTON.]

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