DAMON AND CUPID
Reading edition
The sun was now withdrawn, The shepherds home were sped; The moon wide o’er the lawn Her silver mantle spread; When Damon stayed behind, And sauntered in the grove: “Will ne’er a nymph be kind, And give me love for love? “O! those were golden hours, When Love, devoid of cares, In all Arcadia’s bowers Lodged nymphs and swains by pairs; But now from wood and plain Flies every sprightly lass; No joys for me remain, In shades, or on the grass.”
The wingèd boy draws near, And thus the swain reproves: “While Beauty revelled here, My game lay in the groves; At court I never fail To scatter round my arrows: Men fall as thick as hail, And maidens love like sparrows. “Then, swain, if me you need, Straight lay your sheep-hook down; Throw by your oaten reed, And haste away to town. So well I’m known at court, None ask where Cupid dwells: But readily resort To Bellendens or Lepels.” John Gay.