hear the herald's call.
The Archon ham proclaimed the market-day;
And mother will shed tears at my delay.
The priest of Zeus hath ordered garlands three;
And while I tarry, who will wait for me?"

$Pausias$

"No picture have I sold for many a moon,
But fortune must improve her habits soon;
Then will I purchase all thy stock-in-trade,
And thou shalt lead me to thy bower of green,
There will I paint the flowers, and thee their Queen--
The Queen of dowers, that nevermore shall fade."

$Glycera$

"I know a wood-nymph, who her dwelling hath
Among the leaves, and far beyond the path,
With myrtle and with jasmin roofed across,
Enlaced with vine, and carpeted with moss,
Whose only threshold is a plaited brook,
Whereby the primrose at herself may look;
While birds of song melodious make the air--
But oh! I must not take a stranger there."

$Pausias$

"Nay, but a friend No stranger now am I.
Good art is pledge of perfect modesty.
From chastened heights the painter glanceth down;
No maid can fear a youth who loves renown."

$Glycera$

"Thy words are trim, If mother deems them true,
Thou shalt come with me. But till then, adieu!" [Exit.

$Pausias$

"O! where am I? The mind is all for art--
But one warm breath transforms it into heart."

Scene II:--_A wood near Sicyon. Pausias with his
easel, &c. Glycera carrying flowers._

$Pausias$

"Confounded tangle! Who could paint all this?
A bear might hug him, or a serpent hiss!
For love of nature justly am I famed;
But when she goes so far as this, she ought to be ashamed."

$Glycera$

"Nay, be not frightened by a small affray,
Pure love of nature cannot pave its way.
But lo, where yonder coney-tracks begin,
My nymph hath made her favourite bower within.
Yon oak hath reared its rugged antlers thus,
Before Deucalion lived, or Daedalus.
Inside her woodland Majesty doth keep
A world of wonders--if one dared to peep--
Of things that burrow, elide, spin webs, or creep;
Strange creatures, which before they live must die,
And plants that hunt for prey, and flowers that fly!"

[Illustration: 140.]

$Pausias$

"My love of nature freezes in a trice;
I loathe all earwigs, beetles, and wood-lice.