Fair thickets of the cedar, palm and no
Less pleasant myrtle, of the laurel sweet,
Of orange trees, where fruit and flow'rs did grow,
And which in various forms, all lovely, meet
With their thick shades against the fervid glow
Of summer days, afforded a retreat;
And nightingales, devoid of fear, among
Those branches fluttered, pouring forth their song.
Amid the lilies white and roses red,
Ever more freshened by the tepid air,
The stag was seen, with his proud lofty head,
And feeling safe, the rabbit and the hare....
Sapphires and rubies, topazes, pearls, gold,
Hyacinths, chrysolites, and diamonds were
Like the night flow'rs, which did their leaves unfold
There on those glad plains, painted by the air
So green the grass, that if we did behold
It here, no emeralds could therewith compare;
As fair the foliage of the trees was, which
With fruit and flow'r eternally were rich.
Amid the boughs, sing yellow, white, and blue,
And red and green small feathered creatures gay;
The crystals less limpidity of hue
Than the still lakes or murmuring brooks display.
A gentle breeze, that seemeth still to woo
And never change from its accustomed way,
Made all around so tremulous the air
That no annoyance was the day's hot glare.
(Canto 34.)
Descriptions of time are short:
From the hard face of earth the sun's bright hue
Not yet its veil obscure and dark did rend;
The Lycaonian offspring scarcely through
The furrows of the sky his plough did send.
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