Page:The Poems of John Dyer (1903).djvu/103

To which their hardy labours well prepare 395
The sinewy arm of Albion's sons. Pursue,
Ye sons of Albion ! with unyielding heart,
Your hardy labours : let the sounding loom
Mix with the melody of every vale ;
The loom, that long renown'd wide envy'd gift 400
Of wealthy Flandria, who the boon receiv'd
From fair Venetia ; she from Grecian nymphs ;
They from Phenice, who obtain'd the dole
From old Ægyptus. Thus around the globe
The golden-footed Sciences their path 410
Mark, like the sun, enkindling life and joy,
And follow'd close by Ignorance and Pride,
Lead Day and Night o'er realms. Our day arose
When Alva's tyranny the weaving arts
Drove from the fertile vallies of the Scheld. 410
With speedy wing and scatter'd course they fled,
Like a community of bees, disturb'd
By some relentless swain's rapacious hand ;
While good Eliza to the fugitives
Gave gracious welcome ; as wise Egypt erst 415
To troubled Nilus, whose nutricious flood
With annual gratitude enrich'd her meads.
Then from fair Antwerp an industrious train
Cross'd the smooth channel of our smiling seas,
And in the vales of Cantium, on the banks 420
Of Stour alighted, and the naval wave
Of spacious Medway : some on gentle Yare
And fertile Waveney pitch'd, and made their seats
Pleasant Norvicum and Colcestria's tow'rs :
Some to the Darent sped their happy way : 425
Berghem, and Sluys, and elder Bruges, chose
Antona's chalky plains, and stretched their tents
Down to Clausentum, and that bay supine
Beneath the shade of Vecta's cliffy isle.