dots-menu
×

Home  »  The Poems of John Dryden  »  Song of Æolus, from King Arthur

John Dryden (1631–1700). The Poems of John Dryden. 1913.

Songs from the Plays

Song of Æolus, from King Arthur

YE blust’ring Brethren of the Skies,

Whose Breath has ruffled all the Watry Plain,

Retire, and let Britannia rise,

In Triumph o’er the Main.

Serene and Calm, and void of Fear,

The Queen of Islands must appear:

Serene and Calm, as when the Spring

The New-Created World began,

And Birds on Boughs did softly sing,

Their peaceful Homage paid to Man,

While Eurus did his Blasts forbear

In Favour of the Tender Year.

Retreat, rude Winds, Retreat,

To Hollow Rocks, your Stormy Seat;

There swell your Lungs, and vainly, vainly threat.