William Alexander, Earl of Stirling (1567?-1640). Aurora. William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. 1907. The Book of Elizabethan Verse

William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Elizabethan Verse. 1907.

Aurora

By William Alexander, Earl of Stirling (1567?–1640)


O HAPPY 1 Tithon! if thou know’st thy hap,
And valuest thy wealth, as I my want,
Then need’st thou not—which ah! I grieve to grant—
Repine at Jove, lulled in his leman’s 2 lap:
That golden shower in which he did repose—	5
One dewy drop it stains
Which thy Aurora rains
Upon the rural plains,
When from thy bed she passionately goes.

Then, wakened with the music of the merles,	10
She not remembers Memnon when she mourns:
That faithful flame which in her bosom burns
From crystal conduits throws those liquid pearls:
Sad from thy sight so soon to be removed,
She so her grief delates.	15
—O favoured by the fates
Above the happiest states,
Who art of one so worthy well-beloved!

Note 1. Song ix., in Aurora, Poems, 1870. Six stanzas have been omitted. [back]

Note 2. Leman: from French l’aimant, a sweetheart. [back]