Robin-Good-Fellow and Oberon
Robin-Good-Fellow. _.
“’Tis now the Time, as Swains relate,
When evry Bird selects his Mate;
Now Elves to eastern [Climes] resort,
Their sprightly fairy Dames to court,
And hold their Revels, blythe and boon,
Beneath the [m]ild and dewy Moon:
What, in this consecrated Hour,
Exempt from aught of Mischeifs Pow’r,
[h]as Oberon, mid Lovers [true],
For Robin-Good-Fellow to do?”
Oberon
“To Britain’s eastern Coast repair,
Where gently glides the Orwell fair,
There shalt thou find a chearful Dame,
More graced by happiness than Fame,
What gives to-night a festive scene,
In Honor of our Fairy Queen,
And Britain’s loveliest Daughters there
The mental Revel freely share,
And draw the merry Valentine,
Inscrib’d with many a sportive Line:
Go th[e]re, and so the [P]ackets guide
That each, appropriately supplied,
May find an Emblem to impart
The secret Wishes of her Heart,
And Beauty’s animated smile
Shall well reward thy wanton Wile,
And mirth and unaffected Glee
Shall join that gentle Revelry.
I will not, Puck, where all are fair
Presume to bid thee choose the fairest;
But to thy Love this Billet bear,
And when thy Choice thou thus declarest,
Tell her that, in her sparkling Eye,
Such gay good-humour though couldst spy,
Such Wit, thou couldst not but opine
That she would share these Tricks of thine,
And bid that Eyes bright Lustre shine
Approving on her Valentine.