Page:The Poems of John Dyer (1903).djvu/104

Soon o'er the hospitable realm they spread, 430
With cheer reviv'd, and in Sabrina's flood,
And the Silurian Tame, their textures blanch'd
Not undelighted with Vigornia's spires,
Nor those by Vaga's stream, from ruins rais'd
Of ancient Ariconium ; nor less pleas'd 435
With Salop's various scenes, and that soft track
Of Cambria deep embay'd, Dimetian land,
By green hills fenc'd, by ocean's murmur lull'd,
Nurse of the rustic bard who now resounds
The fortunes of the Fleece ; whose ancestors 440
Were fugitives from Superstition's rage,
And erst from Devon thither brought the loom,
Where ivy'd walls of old Kidwelly's tow'rs,
Nodding, still on their gloomy brows project
Lancastria's arms, emboss'd in mould'ring stone. 445
Thus, then, on Albion's coast the exil'd band,
From rich Menapian towns, and the green banks
Of Scheld, alighted, and, alighting, sang
Grateful thanksgiving. Yet at times they shift
Their habitations, when the hand of Pride, 450
Restraint, or southern Luxury, disturbs
Their industry, and urges them to vales
Of the Brigantes ; where, with happier care
Inspirited, their art improves the Fleece,
Which occupation erst, and wealth immense, 455
Gave Brabant's swarming habitants, what time
We were their shepherds only ; from which state
With friendly arm they rais'd us : nathless some
Among our old and stubborn swains misdeem'd
And envy'd who enrich'd them ; envy'd those 460
Whose virtues taught the varletry of towns
To useful toil to turn the pilfering hand.
And still when bigotry's black clouds arise,
(For oft they sudden rise in Papal realms)