T'ain't right to hev the young go fust,
All throbbin' full o' gifts an' graces,
Leavin' life's paupers dry ez dust

To try an' make b'lieve fill their places.
Nothin' but tells us wut we miss!

Ther's gaps our lives can't never fay1 in;
And thet world seems so fur from this
Lef' for us loafers to grow gray in!

Come, Peace! not like a mourner bowed
For honour lost an' dear ones wasted,
But proud, to meet a people proud,

With eyes that tell o' triumph tasted!
Come, with han' grippin' on the hilt,

An' step that proves ye Victory's daughter! Longin' for you, our sperits wilt 2

Like shipwrecked men's on rafs for water.

Come, while our country feels the lift
Of a gret instinct shoutin' forwards,

An' knows thet freedom ain't a gift

That tarries long in hans o' cowards! Come, sech ez mothers prayed for, when

They kissed their cross with lips thet quivered, An' bring fair wages for brave men,—

A nation saved, a race delivered!

1 Fit.

J. R. LOWELL

2 Droop.

77.-LOVE'S GROWTH

I SCARCE believe my love to be so pure
As I had thought it was;

Because it doth endure
Vicissitude and season, as the grass:
Methinks I lied all Winter, when I swore
My love was infinite, if Spring make 't more.

*

*

*

*

And yet no greater, but more eminent,
Love by the Spring is grown;

As in the firmament,

Stars by the sun are not enlarged, but shown :1 Gentle love-deeds, as blossoms on a bough, From love's awakened root do bud out now.

J. DONNE

78.-FLOWERS FOR THE WEDDING OF THAME AND ISIS

(FROM "POLYOLBION")

THE Naiads and the Nymphs extremely overjoyed,

And on the winding banks all busily employed, Upon this joyful day some dainty chaplets twine; Some others, chosen out, with fingers neat and fine Brave anadems 2 do make; some baldrics 3 up do bind:

3

1 All stars were supposed to derive their light from the See Paradise Lost, vii. 364, 365. 2 Orig. headbands; so, wreaths.

sun.

3 Belts, necklaces.

Some, garlands; and to some the nosegays were assigned:

As best their skill did serve. But for that Thame should be

Still man-like as himself, therefore they will that he Should not be drest with flowers to gardens that belong

(His bride that better fit), but only such as sprung From the replenished meads and fruitful pastures

near.

To sort which flowers, some sit; some making garlands were ;

The primrose placing first because that in the Spring It is the first appears, then only flourishing;

The azured hare-bell1 next with them they neatly mixed;

To allay whose luscious smell they wood bind 2 placed betwixt.

Amongst those things of scent there prick they in the lily,

And near to that again her sister daffadilly.

To sort these flowers of show with t'other that

were sweet

The cowslip then they couch, and the oxslip, for her meet;

The columbine amongst they sparingly do set,
The yellow king-cup, wrought in many a curious fret,
And now and then among, of eglantine 3 a spray;
By which again a course of lady-smocks 4 they lay;
The crow-flower,5 and thereby the clover-flower
they stick,

The daisy over all those sundry sweets, so thick 2 Honeysuckle. 3 Sweet briar. 5 Ragged Robin.

1 Wild hyacinth.

4 Cuckoo-flowers.

As Nature doth herself; (to imitate her right, Who seems in that her pearl so greatly to delight, That every plain therewith she powdereth to behold;) The crimson darnel flower, the blue-bottle,1 and gold; 2

Which, though esteemed but weeds, yet for their dainty hues

And for their scent not ill, they for this purpose choose.

Thus having told you how the bridegroom Thame was dressed,

I'll show you how the bride, fair Isis, they invest ; Sitting to be attired under her bower of state, Which scorns a meaner sort than fits a princely

rate.

In anadems for whom they curiously dispose

The red, the dainty white, the goodly damask rose,— For the rich ruby, pearl and amethyst, men place In kings' imperial crowns, the circle that enchase. The brave carnation then, with sweet and sovereign

power,

3

(So of his colour called, although a July-flower) 4 With the other of his kind, the speckled and the pale ;

Then the odoriferous pink, that sends forth such a gale

1 Blue corn-flower.

2 Corn-marigold.

3 This is a mistake, the colour being named from the flower. Carnation is "coronation," from its use in garlands. So Spenser (Shep. Cal.)—

"Bring coronations and sops-in-wine."

4 Gilliflower: a name given to various sweet-scented flowers, such as the carnation, wall-flower, etc.; from Fr. girofle, clove.

Of sweetness, yet in scents as various as in

sorts.

The purple violet then the pansy there supports;
The marigold above to adorn the archèd bar;
The double daisy, thrift, the button-bachelor,
Sweet-william, sops-in-wine,1 the campion; and to

these

Some lavender they put, with rosemary and bays; Sweet marjoram with her like, sweet basil rare for

smell,

With many a flower whose name were now too long to tell;

And, rarely with the rest, the goodly flower-de-lis.2 M. DRAYTON

79.-WHEN THOU MUST HOME

WHEN thou must home, to shades of underground,
And, there arrived, a new admirèd guest,
The beauteous spirits do engird thee round,
White Iope, blithe Helen, and the rest,

To hear the stories of thy finished love

From that smooth tongue whose music hell can

move:

Then wilt thou speak of banqueting delights, Of masques and revels which sweet youth did make,

1 Clove-pinks, used for flavouring wine.

2 The white iris. For some interesting information about Elizabethan flowers, see Canon Ellacombe's PlantLore of Shakspeare.