Poems and Extracts/Inscription (1)
Inscription.
For a Grotto
To me who in their lays the shepherds call
Actæa, daughter of the neighbouring stream,
This cave belongs. The fig-tree and the vine,
Which o'er the rocky entrance downward shoot
Were placed by Glycon. He with cowslips pale,
Primrose and purple lychnis, decked the green
Before my threshold, and my shelving walls
With honeysuckle covered. Here at noon,
Led by the murmur of my rising fount,
I slumber: here my clus'tring fruits I tend:10
Or from the humid flowers, at break of day,
Fresh garlands weave, and chase from all my bounds
Each thing impure and noxious. Enter in,
O Stranger undismayed. Nor bat, nor toad,
Here lurks: and if thy breast of blameless thoughts
Approve thee, not unwelcome shalt thou tread
My quiet mansion: chiefly if thy name
Wise Pallas and the immortal muses own.