8
FIRST PASTORAL.
CUDDY.
A Lobbin Clout! I ween,[1] my plight is guest,
For he that loves a stranger is to rest;
If swains belie not, thou hast prov'd the smart,
And Blouzelinda's mistress of thy heart. 10
This rising rear betokeneth well thy mind,
Those arms are folded for thy Blouzelind;
And well, I trow, our piteous plights agree,
Thee Blouzelinda smites, Buxoma me.
A Lobbin Clout! I ween,[1] my plight is guest,
For he that loves a stranger is to rest;
If swains belie not, thou hast prov'd the smart,
And Blouzelinda's mistress of thy heart. 10
This rising rear betokeneth well thy mind,
Those arms are folded for thy Blouzelind;
And well, I trow, our piteous plights agree,
Thee Blouzelinda smites, Buxoma me.
LOBBIN CLOUT.
Ah Blouzelind! I love thee more by half, 15
Than does their fawns, or cows the new-fall'n calf:
Woe worth the tongue! may blisters sore it gall,
That names Buxoma, Blouzelind withal.
Ah Blouzelind! I love thee more by half, 15
Than does their fawns, or cows the new-fall'n calf:
Woe worth the tongue! may blisters sore it gall,
That names Buxoma, Blouzelind withal.
CUDDY.
Hold, witless Lobbin Clout, I thee advise,
Lest blisters sore on thy own tongue arise. 20
Lo yonder Cloddipole, the blithsome swain,
The wisest lout of all the neighbouring plain.
From Cloddipole we learnt to read the skies,
To know when hail will fall, or winds arise.
He taught us erst[2] the heifers tail to view, 25
When stuck aloft, that show'rs would strait ensue;
He first that useful secret did explain,
That pricking corns foretold the gath'ring rain.
When swallows fleet soar high and sport in air,
He told us that the welkin wou'd be clear. 30
Let Cloddipole then hear us twain rehearse,
And praise his sweetheart in alternate verse,
I'll wager this same oaken staff with thee,
That Cloddipole shall give the prize to me.
Hold, witless Lobbin Clout, I thee advise,
Lest blisters sore on thy own tongue arise. 20
Lo yonder Cloddipole, the blithsome swain,
The wisest lout of all the neighbouring plain.
From Cloddipole we learnt to read the skies,
To know when hail will fall, or winds arise.
He taught us erst[2] the heifers tail to view, 25
When stuck aloft, that show'rs would strait ensue;
He first that useful secret did explain,
That pricking corns foretold the gath'ring rain.
When swallows fleet soar high and sport in air,
He told us that the welkin wou'd be clear. 30
Let Cloddipole then hear us twain rehearse,
And praise his sweetheart in alternate verse,
I'll wager this same oaken staff with thee,
That Cloddipole shall give the prize to me.
LOBBIN
