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Canto primo.
<poem> Hark all you ladies that do sleep! The Fairy Queen PROSERPINA Bids you awake! and pity them that weep!
You may do in the dark What the day doth forbid; Fear not the dogs that bark, Night will have all hid.
But if you let your lovers moan; The Fair Queen PROSERPINA Will send abroad her fairies every one:
That shall pinch black and blue Your white hands and fair arms; That did not kindly rue Your paramours' harms.
In myrtle arbours on the downs, The Fairy Queen PROSERPINA This night by moonshine, leading merry rounds,
Holds watch with sweet LOVE, Down the dale, up the hill. No plaints nor griefs may move Their holy vigil.
All you that will hold watch with LOVE, The Fairy Queen PROSERPINA Will make you fairer than DIANA'S dove.
Roses red, lilies white, And the clear damask hue; Shall on your cheeks alight. LOVE will adorn you.
