Song of Pan and Nereide, from King Arthur. Songs from the Plays. John Dryden. 1913. The Poems of John Dryden

John Dryden (1631–1700). The Poems of John Dryden. 1913.

Songs from the Plays

Song of Pan and Nereide, from King Arthur


ROUND thy Coasts, Fair Nymph of Britain,
For thy Guard our Waters flow:
Proteus all his Herds admitting
On thy Greens to Graze below.
Foreign Lands thy Fishes Tasting	5
Learn from thee Luxurious Fasting.

1 For Folded Flocks, on Fruitful Plains,
The Shepherds and the Farmers Gains,
Fair Britain all the world outvyes;
And Pan, as in Arcadia reigns	10
Where Pleasure mixt with Profit lyes.

2 Though Jasons Fleece was Fam’d of old,
The British Wool is growing Gold;
No Mines can more of Wealth supply:
It keeps the Peasant from the Cold,	15
And takes for Kings the Tyrian Dye.