The swardit1 soil enbroud2 with selcouth3 hues,
Wood and forest odumbrat1 with their bews,
Whose blissful branches, porturat on the ground
With shadows sheen, shew rockès rubicund.
Towers, turrets, kirnels,7 pinnacles hie
Of kirks, castells, and ilke fair city,
Stood painted, every fyall, fane, and stage,9
Upon the plain ground by their own umbrage.10
And blissful blossoms in the bloomit yard 11
Submits their heads in the young Sun's safe-guard;
Ivy-leaves rank o'erspread the barmkin12 wall;
The bloomit hawthorn 13 clad his pikès all;
Forth from fresh burgeons 14 the wine-grapes ying 15
Endlang the trellis did on twistès 16 hing;17
The lockit buttons 18 on the gemmit 19 trees
O'erspreading leaves of Nature's tapestries;
Soft grassy verdure after balmy showers
On curling stalkès smiling to their flowers,
Beholding them sae mony divers hue
Some perse," 20 some pale, some burnet,21 and some blue,
Some gris, some gules,22 some purple, some sanguane,
Blanched or brown, fauch-yellow 23
mony ane,
Some heavenly colored in celestial gree,2
Some watery-hued, as the haw wally 25 sea,
And some depart 26 in freckles red and white,
Some bricht as gold with aureate leavès lite.27
The daisy did unbraid her crownel small,
And every flower unlappit 28 in the dale.
In battle girss 29 burgeons 30 the banewort wild,
The clover, catcluke,31 and the camomild;
The flower-de-lys forth spread his heavenly hue,
Flower-damas, and columbine blank 32 and blue;
Seir downès small on dent-de-lion 33 sprang,
The ying green bloomit strawberry leaves amang;
Gimp 34 gilliflowers their royn leaves unshet,"
Fresh primrose and the purpur violet ;
3 Strange, uncommon.
7 Battlements.
9 Every cupola, vane, and gabled storey. 10 Shade. 13 Flowering hawthorn.
14 Shoots.
18 Closed buds.
21 Dark brown (or burnished).
24 Degree. 25 Pale, wavy.
28 Unfolded. 29 In thick tall grass.
andelion. 34 Smart, neat. 35 Vermilion.
16 Hang in bunches. 17 Hang
20 Sky-coloured.
4 O'ershadowed. 8 High.
11 Flower-garden. 15 Young.
19 Jewelled.
22 Red.
26 Parti-coloured. 30 Grows. 31 Trefoil.
36 Unshut, disclosed.
The rosè-knoppes,1 tetand2 forth their head,
Gan chip and kithe3 their vermeil lippès red;
Crisp scarlet leaves some sheddand, baith at ance
Cast fragrant smell amid from golden grains;
Heavenly lilies, with lokerand toppès white,
Opened and shew their crestès redimite,"
The balmy vapour from their silken crops
Distilling hailsome sugurate honey-drops. . . .
Maist amiable waxes the emerant meads.
Swannès soughès throughout the risp and reeds,
Ower all thir lowès9 and the floodès gray,
Seekand by kind a place where they suld lay:
Phoebus' red fowl 10 his coral crest gan steir,1
Oft strecking forth his heckle,12 crawand clear,
Amid the wortès 13 and the rootès gent,1
Pickand his meat in alleys where he went ;
His wives, Toppa and Pertelote, him by,
As bird all time that hantès 15 bigamy:
The painted poune,16 pacand with plumès gim,17
Cast up his tail, a proud pleasand wheel-rim,
Y-shrowdit in his feathram 18 bricht and sheen,
Shapand the print of Argus' hundred eyne:
Amang the brownès 19 of the olive twests 20
Seir 21 smallè fowlès workand crafty nests
Endlang the hedges thick, and on rank aik's,22
Ilk bird rejoicing with their mirthful makes.23
In corners and clear fenesters 24 of glass
Full busily Arachne 25 weavand was,
To knit her nettès and her webbès sly,
Therewith to catch the midge and little fly.
So dusty powder upstours 26 in every street,
While Corby gaspit for the fervent heat.
Under the bewès bien 28 in lusty vales,
Within fermans 29 and parkès close of pales,
The busteous buckès rakès forth in raw;30
Herdès of hartès through the thick wood shaw,
Baith the brockets,31 and with braid burnished tinds; 32 The spruttled 33 calvès suckand the red hinds,
1 Buds. 2 Peeping. 3 To open and show.
5 Encircled (Lat. redimitus).
8 Breathe or whistle.
6 Heads.
10 The cock.
13 Plants.
26 Clouds up. 27 The crow. 30 Range in row, march in order. 32 Those with broad, branched tines (horns).
7 Wholesome, sugared. 11 Stir, move.
14 Neat. 15 Practises. 19 Branches.
23 Mates. 24 Windows. Comfortable shade of boughs. 31 Two-years-old red deer. 33 Spreckled.
The young fawns followand the dun does,
Kiddès, skippand through, runs after roes.
In lissours, and on leaès, little lambs
Full tart and trig 2 socht bleatand to their dams.
Tidy kye lowès, vealès 3 by them rins;
All snug and sleekit worth thir 4 beastès skins.
On salt streamès walks Doris and Thetis,
By rinnand strandès, nymphs and naiades,
Sic as we clepe 5 wenches and damosels,
In grassy grovès wanderand by spring-wells,
Of bloomit branches and flowers white and red
Plaitand their lusty chaplets for their head;
Some sing sangès, dances leads, and rounds,
With voices shrill, while all the dale resounds.
Whereso they walk into their carolling,
For amorous lays doth all the rockès ring.
Ane sang The ship sails ower the salt faem
Will bring thir merchants and my leman hame :
Some other sings, I will be blythe and licht;
Mine heart is lent upon sae goodly wicht."
And thochtful lovers roamès to and fro,
To lese their pain and plene their jolly woe;
After their guise, now singand, now in sorrow,
With heartès pensive the lang summer's morrow.
Some ballads list indite of his ladye;
Some lives in hope; and some all utterly
Despaired is, and sae quite out of grace,
His purgatory he finds in every place.
Dame Nature's minstrels, on that other part, . .
With merry notès mirthfully forth brest...
The cushat croods and pirkès on the rise ;10
The starling changes divers stevens
nice;
The sparrow chirmès in the wallès clift;
Goldspink and lintwhite fordinnand the lift;
The cuckoo galès,12 and so whitters the quail;
While rivers reirdit,13 shaws, and every vale;
And tender twistès trimmilt 14 on the trees,
For birdès sang and bimming 15 of the bees.
3 Calves (Fr. veau; English, veal). 4 Become those. 6 In the act of.
7 Names of old Scottish songs: "The ship sails over the salt foam that will bring those merchants and my lover home; "I will be blithe and light; my heart is set upon so goodly a wight." 8 Lose, forget. 10 The wood-pigeon coos and twitters on the branch. 13 Clamoured. 14 Twigs trembled.
9 Complain, bemoan. 11 Sounds, modulations.
In warbles dulce of heavenly armonies,
The larkès, loud releshand1 in the skies,
Lovès their Liege,2 with tonès curious;
Baith to Dame Nature and the fresh Venus,
Rendering high laudès in their observance;
Whaes sugured throatès made glad heartès dance;
And all small fowlès singès on the spray :-
"Welcome, the Lord of Light and Lamp of Day;
Welcome, foster of tender herbès green;
Welcome, quickener of flourished flowers sheen ;
Welcome, support of every root and vein;
Welcome, comfort of allkind fruit and grain;
Welcome, the birdès bield upon the breir;3
Welcome, maister and ruler of the year;
Welcome, weelfare of husbands at the ploughs;
Welcome, repairer of woodès, trees, and boughs;
Welcome, depainter of the bloomit meads;
Welcome, the life of everything that spreads;
Welcome, storer of all kind bestial;"
Welcome be thy bricht beamès, gladding all;
Welcome, celestial mirror, and espy,
Atteaching all that hauntès' sluggardy."
And with this word, in chamber where I lay,
The ninth morrow of freshè temperate May,
On foot I sprent.8
VISION OF MAPHEUS VEGIUS: OR HOW DOUGLAS CAME TO ADD A SUPPLEMENT TO HIS VIRGIL.9
Toward the even, amid the summer's heat,
When in the Crab Apollo held his seat,
During the joyous moneth-time of June,
As gone near was the day and supper done,
I walked forth about the fieldès tite,10
Whilks tho11 replenished stood, full of delight,
With herbès, cornès, cattle, and fruit trees,
Plenty of store, birdès and busy bees
1 Singing freely (relacher).
3 Shelter on the brier.
7 Practise. 8 Sprang.
4 Husbandmen. 9 Maphæus Vegius was an Italian scholar and poet of high celebrity in the fifteenth century (b. 1407, d. 1459). Among his works was a supplement in Latin verse to Virgil's Æneid, forming a thirteenth book to be added to Virgil's twelve. It was first printed in 1471, and was often afterwards annexed to editions of the Æneid. Hence Douglas included it in his translation; but in what spirit is humorously shown in the present passage. 10 Quickly. 11 Then.
In emerant meades fleeand east and west,
After labour to take the nichtès rest.
And, as I blinkit on the lift me by,
All burnand red gan wax the even sky:
The sun, enfirit haill, as to my sicht,
Whirlit about his ball with beamès bricht,
Declinand fast toward the north in dead;2
And fiery Phlegon, his dim nichtès steed,
Dowkit his head sae deep in floodès grey,
That Phoebus rolls down under hell away,
And Esperus in the west with beamès bricht
Upspringès, as fore-rider of the nicht. . . .
The licht begouth3 to quinckle out and fail ;
The day to dirken, decline and devail.*...
Upgoes the bat with her peeled leathern flicht;
The lark descendès from the skiès hicht; ...
And everything, whereso them likès best,
Bounès to take the hailsome nichtès rest, ..
Out-tak the merry nichtgale, Philomene,
That on the thorn sat singand frae the spleen.
Whase mirthful notès langing for to hear,
Until a garth' under a green laurere
I walk anon, and in a siege down sat,
Now musand upon this and now on that.
I see the Pole, and eke the Urses' bricht,
And horned Lucine castand but dim licht; .
That shortly, there as I was leaned down,
For nichtès silence and these birdès soun,
Asleep I slid: Where soon I saw appear
Ane aged man, that said, "What does thou here
Under my tree, and willest me nae good?"
Methocht I lookit up under my hood
To spy this auld,19 that was as stern of speech
As he had been ane mediciner or leech,
And weel perceivit that his weed 11 was strange,
Thereto so auld that it had not been change,
By my conceit, fully that forty year,
For it was threadbare into places sere.
Side 13 was his habit, round, and closing meet,
That streikit 14 to the ground down ower his feet,
And on his head of laurer-tree a crown,
Like to some poet of the auld fassoun.15
Methocht I said to him with reverence "Father, gif I have done you ony offence, on fire. 2 In death, dying.
constellations of the Bear
11 Dress.
8 Seat.
(Ursa), the greater and the lesser.
12 Many. 13 Ample. 14 Stretched. 15 Fashion.
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