When noon advanc'd, Sol's downward rays

  Shedding intolerable blaze,

  Compel the Labourers' retreat,

  To shelter from the fervent heat;

  The copse that skirts the irriguous mead

  Affords a welcome cooling shade.

    A Damsel from the careful Dame

  With wholesome viands loaded came;

  Though coarse and homely was their meal,

  Though brown their bread, and mild their ale,

  Gladly they view'd the plenteous store,

  Dispos'd on Nature's verdant floor.

    The aerial Stranger soon made free,

  Nor miss'd Apollo's minstrelsy;

  For chirping Grasshoppers were heard,

  With dulcet notes of many a Bird

  That sought at noon the umbrageous glade

  And softly sung beneath the shade.

  He took his place upon the ground,

  With Lads and Lasses circling round;

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