The Strawberries

The winter left the naked plain, And spring's gay pencil deck'd the scene; And as she wav'd her magic wand, With early fruitage blush'd the land: 'Twas then Pomona rais'd her head, And joyful view'd a strawb"ry bed! Two sister berries caught her eye, Impurpled with the brighest die. 'These blushing twins, the goddess said, (And pluck'd them from their verdant bed) 'I'll give to some thrice beauteous fair, 'To bloom, conceal'd beneath her care; ''Till an illustrious Duke (whose name 'Is known to Ancestry and Fame) 'Conducted by some partial pow'r, 'Shall gather them at midnight hour: 'And love remove the slender vest, 'To light him to the heav'nly feast':— The blushing twins she thus address'd, Then fix'd them on Amanda's breast.