William Browne, Pastoral Poems (1906)
“ Robin the mean, that best of all loves men; The nightingale the tenor, and the thrush The counter-tenor sweetly in a bush. And that the music might be full in parts, Birds from the groves flew with right willing hearts; But (as it seem'd) they thought (as do the swains, Which tune their pipes on sack'd Hibernia's plains) There should some droning part be, therefore will'd Some bird to fly into a neighb'ring field. ”
William Browne, Pastoral Poems (1906)
“ There the small birds with their harmonious notes Sing to a spring that smileth as she floats: For in her face a many dimples show. And often skips as it did dancing go: Here further down an over-arched alley, That from a hill goes winding in a valley, You spy at end thereof a standing lake, Where some ingenious artist strives to make The water (brought in turning pipes of lead Through birds of earth most lively fashioned) To counterfeit and mock the sylvans all, In singing well their own set madrigal. ”
William Browne, Pastoral Poems (1906)
“ These, with a many more, methought, complain'd That Nature should those needless things produce, Which not alone the sun from others gain'd But turn it wholly to their proper use: I could not choose but grieve that Nature made So glorious flowers to live in such a shade. ”
