Which long their longings urg'd their eyes to see,
Beautify them, which long have deified thee.

Ethi. Niger, be glad : resume thy native cheer.
Thy daughters' labours have their period here,
And so thy errors. I was that bright face
Reflected by the lake, in which thy race
Read mystic lines; which skill Pythagoras
First taught to men, by a reverberate glass.*
This blessed isle doth with that TANIA end,
Which there they saw inscribed, and shall extend
Wish'd satisfaction to their best desires.

Britannia, which the triple world admires,
This isle hath now recover'd for her name;

Where reign those beauties that with so much fame
The sacred Muses' sons have honoured,
And from bright Hesperus to Eous spread.
With that great name Britannia, this blest isle
Hath won her ancient dignity, and style,

A WORLD DIVIDED FROM THE WORLD: and tried
The abstract of it, in his general pride.
For were the world, with all his wealth, a ring,
Britannia, whose new name makes all tongues sing,
Might be a diamant worthy to inchase it,
Ruled by a sun, that to this height doth grace it:
Whose beams shine day and night, and are of force
To blanch an Æthiop and revive a corse.
His light sciential is, and, past mere nature,
Can salve the rude defects of every creature.
Call forth thy honour'd daughters then;
And let them, 'fore the Britain men,

Which skill Pythagoras

First taught to men, by a reverberate glass.] The allusion is to what is told us by the scholiast on Aristophanes, that Pythagoras discovered a method of writing with blood on a speculum, or polished mirror; and this being held opposite to the moon, what was written on the glass would be reflected on the orb of the moon, and would appear to be written thereon. Nub. v. 750. WHAL.

Indent the land, with those pure traces
They flow with, in their native graces.
Invite them boldly to the shore;
Their beauties shall be scorch'd no more:
This sun is temperate, and refines

All things on which his radiance shines.

Here the Tritons sounded, and they danced on shore, every couple, as they advanced, severally presenting their fans: in one of which were inscribed their mixt names, in the other a mute hieroglyphic, expressing their mixed qualities. Their own single dance ended, as they were about to make choice of their men: one, from the sea, was heard to call them with this CHARM, sung by a tenor voice.

Come away, come away,

We grow jealous of your stay:
If you do not stop your ear,
We shall have more cause to fear
Syrens of the land, than they
To doubt the Syrens of the sea.

Here they danced with their men several measures and corantos. All which ended, they were again accited to sea, with a SONG of two trebles, whose cadences were iterated by a double echo from several parts of the land.

Daughters of the subtle flood,

Do not let earth longer entertain you;
I Ech. Let earth longer entertain you.
2 Ech. Longer entertain you.

y Which manner of symbol I rather chose, than imprese, as well for strangeness, as relishing of antiquity, and more applying to that original doctrine of sculpture, which the Egyptians are said first to have brought from the Ethiopians. Diod. Sicul. Herod.

'Tis to them enough of good,

That you give this little hope to gain you. Ech. Give this little hope to gain you. 2 Ech. Little hope to gain you.

If they love,

You shall quickly see;

For when to flight you move,
They'll follow you, the more you flee.

1 Ech. Follow you, the more you flee.
2 Ech. The more you flee.

If not, impute it each to other's matter ;
They are but earth, and what you vow'd was water.
1 Ech. And what you vow'd was water.

2 Ech. You vow'd was water.

Ethi. Enough, bright nymphs, the night grows old, And we are grieved we cannot hold

You longer light; but comfort take.

Your father only to the lake

Shall make return: yourselves, with feasts,
Must here remain the Ocean's guests.
Nor shall this veil, the sun hath cast
Above your blood, more summers last.
For which you shall observe these rites :
Thirteen times thrice, on thirteen nights,
(So often as I fill my sphere

With glorious light throughout the year)
You shall, when all things else do sleep
Save your chaste thoughts, with reverence, steep
Your bodies in that purer brine,

And wholesome dew, call'd ros-marine:
Then with that soft and gentler foam,
Of which the ocean yet yields some,
Whereof bright Venus, beauty's queen,
Is said to have begotten been,
You shall your gentler limbs o'er-lave,
And for your pains perfection have:

So that, this night, the year gone round,
You do again salute this ground;
And in the beams of yond' bright sun,
Your faces dry, and all is done.

At which, in a dance, they returned to sea, where they took their shell, and with this full SONG went out.

Now Dian, with her burning face,
Declines apace:

By which our waters know

To ebb, that late did flow.

Back seas, back nymphs; but with a forward grace,
Keep still your reverence to the place:
And shout with joy of favour, you have won,
In sight of Albion, Neptune's son.

So ended the first Masque; which, beside the singular grace of music and dances, had the success in the nobility of performance, as nothing needs to the illustration, but the memory by whom it was personated.5

5 By whom it was personated.] Jonson gives us the names of the masquers as they danced on shore, in couples, from their splendid shell, together with the symbols which they bore in their hands.

Co. OF DERBY.8

} 2. {

LA. RICH,9

J DIAPHANE,
EUCAMPSE.
ОСҮТЕ,

} 2. {The figure Isocae

dron of crystal.

CO. OF SUFFOLK.1} 3. {RATTARE.} 3. {A pair of naked

feet in a river.

6 Countess of Bedford.] Lucy, the lady of Edward, third earl of Bedford, and daughter of John lord Harrington. She was a munificent patron of genius, and seems to have been peculiarly kind to Jonson. One of the most exquisite compliments that ever was offered to talents, beauty, and goodness, was paid by the grateful poet to this lady. (Epig. 76.) The biographers are never weary of repeating, after one another, that she was "the friend of Donne and Daniel, who wrote verses on her;" but of Jonson, who wrote more than both, they preserve a rigid silence.

7 Lady Herbert.] Called by sir Dudley Carleton, Ann Herbert. She was the daughter of sir William Herbert of St. Julian's, Monmouthshire, and a great heiress. This lady was at first intended for her cousin, Philip Herbert, brother of the celebrated lord Pembroke, the friend of Jonson and of genius; but married sir Edward, afterwards lord Herbert of Cherbury.

8 Countess of Derby.] Alice, the daughter of sir John Spencer of Althorpe, (where Jonson's beautiful Entertainment of The Satyr was represented,) and widow of Ferdinando, fifth earl of Derby. She took for her second husband lord keeper Egerton.

For this celebrated lady, who appears to have greatly delighted in these elegant and splendid exhibitions, Milton wrote his Arcades, the songs of which are a mere cento from our author's Masques, of which, in fact, it is a very humble imitation.

9 Lady Rich.] There were two of this name; but the person here meant was probably Penelope, lady Rich, whose story made some noise at a subsequent period. She parted from her husband, as it was said, by consent, and while he was yet living, married Mountjoy, earl of Devonshire. The match was unfortunate. The king was offended, the Earl miserable, and Laud, who performed the ceremony, passed through many years of obloquy for his officiousness, notwithstanding his pretended ignorance of the lady's former marriage.

1 Countess of Suffolk.] Catharine, the daughter of sir Henry Knevit of Charlton in Wiltshire, married first to Richard, lord