Nor wander to his wood;
He was a boy of manly soul,
And true to honour's just controul,
He made his promise good.

Nature, to these divided friends
Now in their separate lot attends;
Time decks them as he flies;
The child, a graceful stripling grows,
And freedom on the snake bestows,
A formidable size.

And now it chanc'd the Arcadian youth,
Renown'd for courage, love and truth!
Had sought a favourite maid;
Led by her tender charms to roam,
Forgetting distance from his home,
Abroad too late he stay'd.

Sooner indeed he meant to start,
To save a watchful parent's heart,
And not one fear excite:
But oft, as nature's records tell,
Ere love can utter his farewell,
Day melts into the night.

Eager to take the shortest road,
That led to his remote abode,
He thro' a forest sped;
There, by the moon's slow rising beam,