Thomas Humphry Ward, ed. The English Poets. 1880–1918.rnVol. III. The Eighteenth Century: Addison to Blake
William Collins (17211759)Dirge in Cymbeline
T
Soft maids and village hinds shall bring
Each opening sweet of earliest bloom,
And rifle all the breathing spring.
To vex with shrieks this quiet grove;
But shepherd lads assembled here,
And melting virgins own their love.
No goblins lead their nightly crew:
The female fays shall haunt the green,
And dress thy grave with pearly dew!
Shall kindly lend his little aid,
With hoary moss, and gathered flowers,
To deck the ground where thou art laid.
In tempests shake the sylvan cell;
Or ’midst the chase, on every plain,
The tender thought on thee shall dwell;
For thee the tear be duly shed;
Beloved till life can charm no more,
And mourned till pity’s self be dead.