DIAN'S VOTARIES
by: Thomas Heywood
- AIL, beauteous
Dian, queen of shades,
- That dwells beneath these shadowy glades,
- Mistress of all those beauteous maids
- That are by her allowed.
- Virginity we all profess,
- Abjure the worldly vain excess,
- And will to Dian yield no less
- Than we to her have vowed.
- The shepherds, satyrs, nymphs, and fauns,
- For thee will trip it o'er the lawns.
-
- Come, to the forest let us go,
- And trip it like the barren doe;
- The fauns and satyrs still do so,
- And freely thus they may do.
- The fairies dance and satyrs sing,
- And on the grass tread many a ring,
- And to their caves their venison bring;
- And we will do as they do.
- The shepherds, satyrs, nymphs, and fauns,
- For thee will trip it o'er the lawns.
-
- Our food is honey from the bees,
- And mellow fruits that drop from trees;
- In chase we climb the high degrees
- Of every steepy mountain.
- And when the weary day is past,
- We at the evening hie us fast,
- And after this, our field repast,
- We drink the pleasant fountain.
- The shepherds, satyrs, nymphs, and fauns,
- For thee will trip it o'er the lawns.
'Dian's Votaries' was originally
published in Golden Age (1611). |
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POEMS BY THOMAS HEYWOOD |
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