Of the Labours of Hercules.
First, he the strong Nemæan lion slew;
The many-headed Hydra, next, o'erthrew.
The Erymanthian Boar he, thirdly, foils,
Then of his golden horns, the Stag he spoils.
The foul Stymphalian birds he, fifthly, frayed:
Next, he, the Queen of Amazons o'erswayed.
Then cleansed Augias' stalls, with filth so full;
And, eighthly, tamed the untamed Bull.
He slew proud Diomedes with his horses.
From triple Gerion, his rich beard he forces.
He slew the Dragon for the fruit of gold:
And made black Cerberus the day behold.
Being left by a Gentleman in his dining-room, where was nothing but a Map of England to entertain him; he thus turned it into Verse.
Fair England, in the bosom of the seas,
Amid her two and fifty Provinces,
Sits like a glorious Empress, whose rich throne
Great Nymphs of Honour come to wait upon.
First, in the height of bravery, appears
Kent, East and South and Middle Saxon Shires;
Next Surrey, Berkshire and Southampton get,
With Dorset, Wilton, and rich Somerset.
Then Devon, with the Cornish promontory,
Glou'ster and Worc'ster, fair Sabrina's glory!
Then Salop, Suffolk, Norfolk large and fair:
Oxford and Cambridge, that thrice learned pair!
Then Lincoln, Derby, Yorkshire, Nottingham,
Northampton, Warwick, Stafford, Buckingham,
Chester and Lancaster with herds well stored,
Huntington, Hertford, Rutland, Hereford.
Then Princely Durham, Bedford, Leic'ster and
Northumber-, Cumber-, and cold Westmoreland.
Brave English Shires! With whom, loved equally,
Welsh Monmouth, Radnor, and Montgomery
Add all the glory, to her train, they can:
So doth Glamorgan, Brecknock, Cardigan,
Carnarvon, Denbigh, Merionethshire,
With Anglesea, which o'er the sea doth rear
Her lofty head. And the first, though last,
Flint, Pembroke, and Caermarthen might be placed.
For all of these, unto their power, maintain
Their mistress, England, with a royal train.
Yea, for Supporters, at each hand hath she,
The Wight and Man, that two brave islands be.
From these, I, to the Scottish Nymphs had journeyed;
But that my friend was back again returned:
Who having kindly brought me to his home,
Alone did leave me in his dining-room;
Where I was fain (and glad I had the hap!)
To beg an entertainment of his Map.
An Epitaph upon the right virtuous Lady, the Lady Scott.
