Daphne monologue — The Gentle Shepherd: A Pastoral Comedy

Thus to the ewe the ram Thou deem'st a foe; or to the tender heifer, The sturdy bull; the turtle to its mate. Thus the delightful spring Seems in thy mind the season of fell hate, And deadly enmity; the lovely spring That smiling prompts to universal love, That rouses nature's flame thro' all her bounds: Nor less in animals of every kind, Than favour'd man. See how creation glows, In all her works, with love's imperious flame! Mark yonder doves that bill, and sport, and kiss: Hear'st thou the nightingale, as on the bough She evermore repeats, "I love, I love:" The wily snake sheaths her envenom'd fang, And sinuous glides her to her glossy mate: The savage tiger feels the potent flame: The grim majestic lion growls his love To the resounding forest.--Wilder thou Than nature's wildest race, spurn'st at that power To which all nature bows.--But why of these, Of the grim lion, or the spotted lynx, Or wily serpent?--these have sense and feeling. Even trees inanimate confess the god: See how the vine clings with a fond embrace; The mountain fir, the pine, the elm, the beech, Have each their favour'd mate: they burn, they sigh, &c.