Изображения страниц
PDF
EPUB

If fondly thou dost not mistake,

And all defects for graces take;

Persuad'st thyself that jests are broken, When she hath little or nothing spoken; Know this,

Thou lov'st amiss,

And to love true,

Thou must begin again, and love anew.
If when thou appear'st to be within,
Thou let'st not men ask, and ask again,
And when thou answer'st, if it be
To what was ask'd thee properly;
Know this,

Thou lov'st amiss,

And to love true,

Thou must begin again, and love anew.
If when thy stomach calls to eat,
Thou cut'st not fingers 'stead of meat;
And, with much gazing on her face,
Dost not rise hungry from the place;
Know this,

Thou lov'st amiss,

And to love true,

Thou must begin again, and love anew.
If by this thou dost discover

That thou art no perfect lover;

And, desiring to love true,

Thou dost begin to love anew,

Know this,

Thou lov'st amiss,

And to love true,

Thou must begin again, and love anew.

SONG.

"TIS now, since I sat down before That foolish fort, a heart,

(Time strangely spent !) a year and more, And still I did my part.

Made my approaches, from her hand
Unto her lip did rise;

And did already understand
The language of her eyes.

Proceeded on with no less art,
My tongue was engineer;
I thought to undermine the heart,
By whispering in the ear.

When this did nothing, I brought down
Great cannon oaths and shot,

A thousand thousand to the town,
And still it yielded not.

I then resolv'd to starve the place,
By cutting off all kisses,
Praising and gazing on her face,
And all such little blisses.

To draw her out and from her strength,
I drew all batteries in;

And brought myself to lie, at length,
As if no siege had been.

When I had done what man could do,
And thought the place my own,

The enemy lay quiet too,

And smil'd at all was done.

I sent to know from whence, and where,
These hopes and this relief?

A spy inform'd, honour was there,

And did command in chief.

March, march (quoth I); the word straight give, Let's lose no time, but leave her;

That giant upon air will live,

And hold it out for ever.

To such a place our camp remove
As will no siege abide ;

I hate a fool that starves her love,
Only to feed her pride.

ANONYMOUS.

SONG.

Do confess thou'rt smooth and fair,

And I might have been brought to love thee; But that I found the slightest pray'r

That breath could move, had power to move thee;
But I can leave thee now alone
As worthy to be lov'd by none.

I do confess thou'rt sweet, but find
Thee such an unthrift of thy sweets,
Thy favours are but like the wind
That kisseth every thing it meets.
Then, since thou canst with more than one,
Thou'rt worthy to be kiss'd by none.

The virgin rose, that untouch'd stands,
Arm'd with its briers, how sweet it smells!
But pluck'd and strain'd through ruder hands,
Its sweet no longer with it dwells.
But scent and beauty both are gone,
And leaves drop from it one by one.

Such fate, ere long, will thee betide,
When thou hast handled been a while;
With sear-flow'rs to be thrown aside,

And I shall sigh, while some will smile.
To see thy love for every one

Hath brought thee to be lov'd by none!

COWLEY.

THE MOTTO.

"Tentanda via est, &c."

WHAT shall I do to be for ever known,

And make the age to come my own?
I shall, like beasts or common people, die,
Unless you write my elegy;

Whilst others great, by being born, are grown;
Their mothers' labour, not their own.

In this scale gold, in th' other fame does lie,
The weight of that mounts this so high.
These men are Fortune's jewels, moulded bright;
Brought forth with their own fire and light:

If I, her vulgar stone, for either look,

Out of myself it must be strook.

Yet I must on; What sound is 't strikes mine ear?
Sure I Fame's trumpet hear:

It sounds like the last trumpet; for it can
Raise up the buried man.

Unpast Alps stop me; but I'll cut them all,
And march, the Muses' Hannibal.
Hence, all the flattering vanities that lay
Nets of roses in the way!

Hence, the desire of honours or estate,
And all that is not above Fate!

Hence, Love himself, that tyrant of my days!
Which intercepts my coming praise.

Come, my best friends, my books! and lead me on; 'Tis time that I were gone,

Welcome, great Stagyrite! and teach me now
All I was born to know:

Thy scholar's victories thou dost far out-do;

He conquer'd th' earth, the whole world you. Welcome, learn'd Cicero! whose blest tongue and wit Preserves Rome's greatness yet:

Thou art the first of Orators; only he

Who best can praise thee, next must be.
Welcome the Mantuan swan, Virgil the wise!
Whose verse walks highest, but not flies;
Who brought green Poesy to her perfect age,
And made that Art which was a Rage.
Tell me, ye mighty Three! what shall I do
To be like one of you?

But you have clim'd the mountain's top, there sit
On the calm flourishing head of it,
And, whilst with wearied steps we upward go,
See us, and clouds, below.

ODE.

OF WIT.

TELL me, O tell, what kind of thing is Wit,

Thou who master art of it?

For the first matter loves variety less;
Less women love 't, either in love or dress.
A thousand different shapes it bears,
Comely in thousand shapes appears.
Yonder we saw it plain; and here 't is now,
Like spirits, in a place we know not how.

London, that vents of false ware so much store,
In no ware deceives us more;

For men, led by the colour and the shape,
Like Zeuxis' birds, fly to the painted grape.
Some things do through our judgment pass
As through a multiplying-glass;

And sometimes, if the object be too far,
We take a falling meteor for a star.

Hence 't is a Wit, that greatest word of fame,
Grows such a common name;

And Wits by our creation they become,
Just so as titular bishops made at Rome.

« ПредыдущаяПродолжить »