John Aikin.
The works of the British poets, selected and chronologically arranged from Ben Jonson to Beattie, with biographical and critical notices (Volume 1) online
. (page 1 of 185)
Online Library → John Aikin → The works of the British poets, selected and chronologically arranged from Ben Jonson to Beattie, with biographical and critical notices (Volume 1) → online text (page 1 of 185)
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TEDS
OF THE
BRITISH POETS
WITH
anal ClRITFIKCAIL, IPMIElFAriE S
BY
THE WORKS
OF THE
BRITISH POETS
SELECTED AND CHEONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED
FROM
BEN JONSON TO BEATTIE,
WITH
BIOGEAPHICAL AND CRITICAL NOTICES.
BY
DR. AIKIN.
VOLUME I.
A NEW REVISED EDITION,
toitfc $itu Stnl
NEW-YORK :
D. APPLETON & COMPANY
346 <fc 348 BROADWAY.
Stacl
Annex
V, \
CONTENTS.
BEN JONSON.
To William Camden
From Cynthia's Revels
From the Silent Woman
Hags
Epitaph on the Countess of Pembroke, Sister
to Sir Philip Sidney
On Lucy Countess of Bedford
Song to Celia
To the same
From the Shepherd's Holiday
Love, a little Boy. From the Masque on
Lord Haddington's Marriage
Epitaph on Elizabeth L. H
COWLEY.
The Motto. Tentanda via est, SfC ........
Honor ................................
Of Myself ............................
The Chronicle. A Ballad ................
Anacreontics ; or some Copies of Verses, trans-
lated paraphrastically out of Anacreon.
I. Love .........................
II. Drinking .....................
III. Beauty .......................
V. Age .........................
VII. Gold .........................
VIII. The Epicure ..................
IX. Another ......................
X. The Grasshopper ..............
XI. The Swallow ..................
Elegy upon Anacreon ; who was choked by
a Grape-stone. Spoken by the God of
Love ...............................
Ode, from Catullus. Acme and Septimius
The Complaint .........................
Hymn to Light ........................
Against Hope ..........................
For Hope .............................
Claudian's Old Man of Verona ...........
The Wish., ..........................
From the Davideis ....................
MILTON.
L' Allegro
II Penseroso
Lycidas
Comus
Paradise Lost In Twelve BOOKS.
Book 1 29
II 35
III 43
IV 49
V. 57
VI 64
VII 70
VIII 75
IX 80
X. . , 89
XI 97
XII 10
Paradise Regained. In Four Books.
Book 1 109
II. 113
III 117
IV. 120
Samson Agonistes ; a Dramatic Poem 126
Christmas Hymn 140
WALLER.
To Amoret 143
To the Same ib.
Of Love ib
Of the Marriage of the Dwarfs 144
A Panegyric to my Lord Protector, of the
Present Greatness, and Joint Interest, of
his Highness and this Nation ib.
Of English Verse 146
The Story of Phoebus and Daphne applied . . ib.
Song ib.
To Phyllis ib.
On a Girdle 147
To Zelinda ib.
To a Lady ib.
DRYDEN.
Annus Mirabilis : the Year of Wonders, 1666 149
Alexander's Feast : or, the Power of Music.
An Ode in honor of St. Cecilia's Day 160
Palamon and Arcite : or, the Knight's Talc.
In Three Books.
Book 1 162
II 166
III 171
The Wife of Bath, her Tale 179
The Character of a Good Parson 183
Theodore and Honoria 184
Religio Laici. An Epistle 187
17K!50l
CONTENTS.
Page
To Sir Godfrey Kneller, principal Painter to
His Majesty 191
Page
The Cock and the Fox ; or, the Tale of the
Nun's Priest 192
The Flower and the Leaf: or, the Lady in
the Arbor 198
Rural Sports. A Georgic. In Two Cantoes.
Canto 1 284
Cymon and Iphigenia 203
J. PHILIPS.
The> 5nlfnHirI Shilling 20R
II 2fc6
Trivia : or the Art of walking the Streets of
London. In Three Books.
Book I. Of the Implements for Walking
the Streets, and Signs of the
Weather 287
Cider : a Poem, in two Books.
Book I 209
II. Of Walking the Streets by Day 289
III. Of Walking the Streets by Night 294
II 215
Sweet William's Farewell to Black-eyed Susan 29 7
PARNELL.
A Ballad, from the What-d'ye-call-it ib.
Fable. The Goat without a Beard 298
Fable The Universal Apparition ib
Fable The Jugglers 299
A Night-Piece on Death 223
The Shepherd's Week. In Six Pastorals ... 300
The Hermit 224
Monday ; or, the Squabble 301
Tuesday ; or the Ditty . 302
An Allegory on Man 227
Wednesday ; or, the Dumps 303
Thursday ; or, the Spell 305
Friday ; or, the Dirge 306
Saturday or the Flights 308
ROWE.
Fable. The Farmer's Wife and the Raven . 309
Fable The Turkey and the Ant ib.
Colin's Complaint A Song 230
The Contented Shepherd. To Mrs. A
D afterwards his Wife 231
GREEN.
A Song. Ah ! Willow. To the same in her
The Spleen. An Epistle to Mr. Cuthbcrt
Jackson 310
ADDISON.
On Barclay's Apology for the Quakers 317
The Seeker ib
. A Letter from Italy to the Right Hon. Charles
' Lord Halifax, in the year 1701 232
The Grotto. Written by Mr. Green, under
the name of Peter Drake, a fisherman of
Brentford 313
To Sir Godfrey Kneller, on his Picture of the
King 237
The Sparrow and Diamond. A Song 320
Paraphrase on Psalm XXIII 238
PRIOR.
TICKELL.
Colin and Lucy. A Ballad -. 321
To the Earl of Warwick, on the Death of Mr.
Addison 322
of the Nut-Brown Maid 240
An Imitation of the Prophecy of Nereus.
From Horace Book II. Ode XV 323
Three Cantoes.
Canto I 246
An Epistle from a Lady in England to a
II 249
An Ode, inscribed to the Earl ofi Sunderland
III 253
at Windsor 325
Solomon on the Vanity of the World. A Poem,
in Three Books.
Book I. Knowledge 258
HAMMOND.
II. Pleasure . . . 264
III. Power 272
Eleffv 326
The Thief and the Cordelier. A Ballad. . . 279
Song ib
The Garland 280
An English Padlock ib
SOMERVILLE.
A Song 281
The Female Phaeton ib
__ p. TV P^rvlr
The Despairing Shepherd '. . . . ib.
Book I . . 328
An Ode ib
II 331
The Lady's Looking-Glass. In imitation of
HI , 335
a Groek Idyllium 282
IV. .. . . 34ft
CONTENTS.
POPE.
The Rape of the Lock. An Heroi-Comical
Poem. In Five Cantoes
Page
Canto 1.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
346
347
348
349
351
Prologue to Mr. Addison's Tragedy of Cato 352
Eloisa to Abelard ib.
The Temple of Fame 355
The Fable of Dryope. From Ovid's Meta-
Vertumnus and Pomona. From the sarm
Book IV .360
An Essay on Man. In Four Epistles.
Epistle I. Of the Nature and State of Man
with respect to the Universe 361
II. Of the Nature and State of Man
with respect to Himself, as
an Individual 36*
III. Of the Nature and State of Man
with respect to Society 366
IV. Of the Nature and State of Man
with respect to Happiness . . . 368
Moral Essays. In Five Epistles to several
Persons.
Epistle I. Of the Knowledge and Char-
' acters of Men 372
II. Of the Characters of Women
III. On the Use of Riches 376
IV. Of the Use of Riches. ...... 379
V. To Mr. Addison, occasioned
by his Dialogues on Medals 381
Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot, being the Prologue
to the Satires 382
Messiah, a Sacred Eclogue, in imitation of
Virgil's Pollio 385
Elegy to the Memory of an Unfortunate Lady 386
Satire "
Epistle to Robert Earl of Oxford and Earl
Mortimer 388
SWIFT.
Cadenus and Vanessa 390
Stella's Birth-Day 397
The Journal of a Modern Lady, in a Letter
to a Person of Quality ib.
On the Death of Dr. Swift 399
Baucis and Philemon. On the ever-lamented
loss of the two Yew-trees in the Parish of
Chilthorne, Somerset. Imitated from the
Eighth Book of Ovid 403
A Description of the Morning 405
The Grand Question Debated : Whether Ham-
ilton's Bawn should be turned into a Bar-
rack or a Malt-house ib.
On Poetry : a Rhapsody 406
A Description of a City-Shower, in imitation
of Virgil's Georgics 410
Horace, Book III. Ode II. To the Earl of
Oxford, late Lord Treasurer. Sent to him
when in the Tower 411
Mrs. Harris's Petition ib.
To the Earl of Petcrborow, who commanded
the British Forces in Spain 412
The Progress of Poetry ib.
THOMSON.
Page
The Seasons :
Spring 415
Summer 424
Autumn 437
Winter 447
The Castle of Indolence: an Allegorical Poem.
In Two Cantoes.
Canto 1 457
II 463
Ancient and Modern Italy compared : being
the First Foit of "Liberty," a Poem 469
morphoses, Book IX 359- Greece : being the Second Part of" Liberty," 472
Rome: beinj- the Third Part of " Liberty," 477
Britain: bc:rir the Fourth Part of " Liberty," 482
The Prospect: being the Fifth Part of
" Liberty," 492
Ode 498
The Happy Man ib.
Song ib.
Song 499
Ode ib.
Hymn on Solitude ib.
To the Rev. Mr. Murdoch, Rector of Strad-
dishall, in Suffolk ib.
A. PHILIPS.
To the Earl of Dorset 500
A Hymn to Venus, from the Greek of Sappho 501
A Fragment of Sappho ib.
COLLINS.
Ode to Pity 502
Ode to Fear 503
Ode, written in the year 1746 ib.
Ode to a Lady, on the Death of Col. Charles
Ross, in the Action at Fontenoy 504
Ode to Evening ib.
Ode to Liberty 505
The Passions, an Ode for Music 506
Dirge in Cymbeline 507
An Ode on the popular Superstitions of the
Highlands of Scotland ; considered as the
Subject of Poetry ib.
Ode on the Death of Mr.'' Thomson 509
DYER.
Srongar Hill 511
The Ruins of Rome 512
SHENSTONE.
The School-Mistress. In Imitation of Spenser 517
Elegy, describing the sorrow of an ingenuous
mind, on the melancholy event of a licen-
tious amour 520
A Pastoral Ballad. In Four Parts.
Part I. Absence 521
II. Hope ib.
III. Solicitude 522
IV. Disappointment ib.
The Dying Kid 523
CONTENTS.
CHURCHILL.
Page
The Rosciad 524
YOUNG.
A Paraphrase on Part of the Book of Job. . . 533
The Complaint : or, Night-Thoughts.
Night the First: on Life, Death, and Im-
mortality 537
Night the Second: on Time, Death, and
Friendship 540
Night the Third : Narcissa 545
Night the Fourth : the Christian Triumph 549
Night the Fifth : the Relapse 555
Night the Sixth : the Infidel Reclaimed. In
Two Parts. Part 1 563
Night the Seventh : the Infidel Reclaimed.
Part II 570
Night the Eighth : Virtue's Apology ; or,
the Man of the World answered 582
Night the Ninth and Last: the Consola-
tion 592
Love of Fame, the Universal Passion. In
Seven Characteristical Satires.
Satire I * 610
II * 612
III. . . 614
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
616
fi!8
G23
6-21
AKENSIDE.
The Pleasures of Imagination. A Poem, in
Three Books.
Book 1 631
II 635
III 641
Ode to the Right Honorable Francis Earl of
Huntingdon 646
Hymn to the Naiads 648
Ode to the Right Rev. Benjamin, Lord Bishop
of Winchester 650
GRAY.
Hymn to Adversity , 653
Elegy written in a Country Church Yard. . . ib.
The Progress of Poesy. A Pindaric Ode .. 654
Ode on the Spring 655
Ode for Music 656
Ode on the Death of a favorite Cat, drowned
in a Tub of Gold Fishes 65'
Ode on a distant Prospect of Eton College . . ib.
The Bard. A Pindaric Ode 658
The Fatal Sisters. An Ode 660
The Descent of Odin. An Ode 661
The Triumphs of Owen. A Fragment. ... ib,
SMOLLETT.
The Tears of Scotland 663
Ode to Leven-Water ib.
Ode to Independence 664
LITTELTON.
i>agc
The Progress of Love. In Four Eclogues.
Eclogue I. Uncertainty 666
II. Hope 667
III. Jealousy 668
IV. Possession 669
To the Rev. Dr. Ayscough, at Oxford ib.
Song.
Song.
670
671
ib*
Memory of the first Lady Littelton.
A Monody ib.
GOLDSMITH.
The Traveller : or, a Prospect of Society . . 675
The Deserted Village 678
The Hermit A Ballad 681
Retaliation. A Poem 682
Stanzas on Woman. From the Vicar of Wake-
field 684
Song ib
JOHNSON.
London : a Poem. In imitation of the Third
Satire of Juvenal 686
The Vanity of Human Wishes, in imitation
of the Tenth Satire of Juvenal 688
Prologue, spoken by Mr. Garrick, at the open-
ing of the Theatre-Royal, Drury-lane, 1747, 691
On the Death of Mr. Robert Levet, a Practiser
in Physic ib.
ARMSTRONG.
The Art of preserving Health. In four Books.
Book I. Air 693
II. Diet 696
III. Exercise 700
IV. The Passions 704
J. WARTON.
Ode to Fancy 710
Verses, written at Montauban in France. ... 71J
T. WARTON.
Ode to the First of April 713
Ode. The Crusade ib.
The Progress of Discontent 714
Inscription in a Hermitage, at Ansley Hall,
in Warwickshire 715
Ode. The Hamlet 711
Ode sent to a Friend, on his leaving a favorite
Village in Hampshire ib
The Pleasures of Melancholy 717
MASON.
Ode to Memory 720
Ode to Independency 721
Elegy on the Death of a Lady 722
Epitaph on Mrs. Mason, in the Cathedral of
Bristol. . . . . . ib
CONTENTS.
Page
COWPER.
Boadicea. An Ode 724
Heroism ib.
On the Receipt of my Mother's Picture out of
Norfolk, the Gift of my Cousin Ann Bod-
ham 725
Friendship 726
Retirement 727
The Task. In Six Books.
Book I. The Sofa 733
II. The Time-Piece 739
' II. The Garden 746
IV. The Winter Evening 752
V. The Winter-Morning Walk 758
VI. The Winter Walk at Noon 764
Tirocinium : or, a Review of Schools 772
Page
Table-Talk 779
Conversation 784
Verses supposed to be written by Alexander
Selkirk, during his solitary Abode in the
Island of Juan Fernandez. 791
John Gilpin 792
An Epistle to Joseph Hill, Esq 794
Yardley Oak ib.
The Cast-away 796
BEATTIE.
The Minstrel : or, The Progress of Gemus.
In Two Books.
Book 1 798
II 802
fist 0f tju (ffingrsirings
VOLUME I.
PAGE
FRONTISPIECE CELIA.
ZELINDA, - 147
HENRY AND EMMA, - - 240
ELOISA AND ABELARD, - - 352
SAPPHO, - 501
SOLICITUDE, - - 532
NIGHT THOUGHTS, - - 537
LEVEN WATER, -. - - 663
ODE TO FANCY, 710
THE MINSTREL, - - - - - - 798
BENJAMIN JONSON.
BENJAMIN JOXSON, (or Johnson,) a poet, who, I gives a particular examination of his " Silent Wo
during life, attained a distinguished character, was I man," as a model of perfection. He afterwards
the posthumous son of a clergyman in Westmins
where he was born in 1574, about a month after his
father's decease. His family was originally from
Scotland, whence his grandfather removed to Car-
lisle, in the reign of Henry VIII.
Benjamin received his education under the learned
Camden, at Westminster school ; and had made
extraordinary progress in his studies, when his mo-
ther, who had married a bricklayer for her second
husband, took him away to work under his step-
father. From this humble employment he escaped,
by enlisting as a soldier in the army, then serving in
the Netherlands against the Spaniards. An exploit
which he here performed, of killing an enemy in
single combat, gave him room to boast ever after of
n degree of courage which has not often been found
in alliance with poetical distinction.
On his return, Jonson entered himself at St.
John's College, Cambridge, which he was shortly
obliged to quit from the scanty state of his finan
He then turned his thoughts
applied for employment at the
the stage, and
theatres; but his
talents, as an actor, could only procure for him
admission at an obscure playhouse in the suburbs.
Here he had the misfortune to kill a fellow-actor
in a duel, for which he was thrown into prison.
The state of mind to which he was here brought,
gave the advantage to a Popish priest in converting
him to the Catholic faith, under which religion he
continued for twelve years.
After his liberation from prison, he married, and
applied in earnest to writing for the stage, in which
he appears to have already made several attempts.
His comedy of "Every Man in his Humor," the
first of his acknowledged pieces, was performed with
applause in 1596; and henceforth he continued to
furnish a play yearly, till his time was occupied by
the composition of the masques and other enter-
tainments, by which the accession of James was
celebrated. Dryden, in his Essay on Dramatic
Poetry, speaks of him as the " most learned and
judicious writer which any theatre ever had." and
however, seems to make large deductions from this
commendation. "You seldom (says Dryden) find
him making love in any of his scenes, or endeavor-
ng to move the passions ; his genius was too sullen
and saturnine to do it gracefully. Humor was his
proper sphere ; and in that he delighted most to
represent mechanics." Besides his comedies, Jonson
composed two tragedies, Sejanus and Catiline, bcth
formed upon ancient models, and full of trans-
lations ; and neither of them successful. His dra-
matic compositions, however, do not come within
the scope of the present publication.
In 1616, he published a folio volume of his works,
which procured for him a grant from his majesty of
the salary of poet-laureate for life, though he did not
take possession of the post till three years after.
With high intellectual endowments, he had many
unamiable traits in his character, having a high de-
gree of pride and self-conceit, with a disposition to
abuse and disparage every one who incurred his
jealousy or displeasure. Jonson was reduced
to necessitous circumstances in the latter part of
his life, though he obtained from Charles I an ad-
vance of his salary as laureate. He died in 1637 a*
the age of 63, being at that time considered as at the
head of English poetry. He was interred in West-
minster Abbey, where an inscription was placed over
his grave, familiarly expressive of the reputation
he had acquired among his countrymen: it was,
"O rare Ben Jonson." Six months after his death,
a collection of poems to his honor, by a number
of the most eminent writers and scholars in the na-
tion, was published, with the title of "Jonsonius
Virbius ; or the memory of Ben Jonson, revived by
the Friends of the Muses."
Although, as a general poet, Jonson for the mosl
part merits the character of harsh, frigid, and tedious;
there are, however, some strains in which he appears
with singular elegance, and may be placed in com-
petition with some of the most favored writers of
that class.
JONSON.
TO WILLIAM CAMDEN.
CAMDEN, most reverend head, to whom I owe
All that I am in arts, all that I know
(How nothing's that!) to vhom my country owes
The great renown, and name wherewith she goes.
Than thee the age sees not that thing more grave,
More high, more holy, that she more would crave.
What name, what skill, what faith hast thou in
things!
What sight in searching the most antique springs !
What weight, and what authority in thy speech !
Man scarce can make that doubt, but thou canst
teach.
Pardon free truth, and let thy modesty,
Which conquers all, be once o'ercome by thee.
Many of thine this better could, than I,
But for their powers, accept my piety.
FROM CYNTHIA'S REVELS
QUEEN and huntress, chaste and fair,
Now the sun is laid to sleep ;
Seated in thy silver chair,
State in wonted manner keep :
Hesperus intreats thy light,
Goddess excellently bright.
Earth, let not thy envious shade
Care itself to interpose ;
Cynthia's shining orb was made
Heaven to clear, when day did close ;
Bless us then with wished sight,
Goddess excellently bright.
Lay thy bow of pearl apart,
And thy crystal-shining quiver ;
Give unto the flying heart
Space to breathe, how short soever :
Thou that mak'st a day of night,
Goddess excellently bright.
FROM THE SILENT WOMAN.
STILL to be neat, still to be drest,
As you were going to a feast ;
Still to be powder'd, still perfum'd :
Lady, it to be presum'd,
Though art's hid causes are not found,
All is not sweet, all is not sound.
Give me a look, give me a face,
That makes simplicity a grace ;
Robes loosely flowing, hair as free :
Such sweet neglect more taketh me,
Than all th' adulteries of art ;
They strike mine eyes, but not my heart.
1. I HAVE been, all day, looking after
A raven, feeding upon a quarter ;
And, soon as she turn'd her beak to the south,
I snatch'd this morsel out of her mouth.
2. I have been gathering wolves' hairs,
The mad-dogs' foam, and the adders' ears ;
The spurgings of a dead-man's eyes,
And all since the evening-star did rise.
3. I, last night, lay all alone
O' the ground, to hear the mandrake groan ;
And pluck'd him up, though he grew full low ;
And, as I had done, the cock did crow.
4. And I ha' been choosing out this skull,
From charnel-houses, that were full ;
From private grots, and public pits,
And frighted a sexton out of his wits.
5. Under a cradle I did creep,
By day ; and, when the child was asleep,
At night, I suck'd the breath ; and rose,
And pluck'd the nodding nurse by the nose.
7. A murderer, yonder, was hung in chains,
The sun and the wind had shrunk his veins ;
I bit off" a sinew, I clipp'd his hair,
I brought off his rags, that danc'd i' the air.
8. The screech-owl's eggs, and the feathers black
The blood of the frog, and the bone in his back
I have been getting ; and made of his skin
A purset, to keep Sir Cranion in.
9. And I ha' been plucking (plants among)
Hemlock, henbane, adder's tongue,
Night-shade, moon-wort, libbard's bane;
And twice by the dogs was like to be ta'en.
10. I, from the jaws of a gardener's bitch,
Did snatch these bones, and then leap'd the ditch
Yet went I back to the house again,
Kill'd the black cat, and here's the brain.
11. I went to the toad breeds under the wall
I charm'd him out, and he came at my call ;
I scratch'd out the eyes of the owl before,
I tore the bat's wing : what would you have more I
Yes, I have brought (to help our vows)
Horned poppy, cypress boughs,
The fig-tree wild, that grows on tombs,
And juice, that from the larch-tree comes,
The Sasilisk's blood, and the viper's skin:
And, now, our orgies let's begin.
EPITAPH
ON THE COUNTESS OF PEMBROKE, SISTER TO
SIR PHILIP SIDNEY.
UNDERNEATH this marble herse
Lies the subject of all verse,
Sidney's sister, Pembroke's mother;
Death, ere thou hast slain another
Learn'd, and fair, and good as she,
Time shall throw his dart at thee.
MISCELLANEOUS PIECES.
ON LUCY, COUNTESS OF BEDFORD.
THIS morning, timely rapt with holy fire,
I thought to form unto my zealous Muse,
What kind of creature I could most desire,
To honor, serve, and love ; as poets use.
I meant to make her fair, and free, and wise,
Of greatest blood, and yet more good than great;
1 meant the day-star should not brighter rise,
Nor lend like influence from his lucent seat
i meant she should be courteous, facile, sweet,
Hating that solemn vice of greatness, pride ;
I meant each softest virtue there should meet.
Fit in that softer bosom to reside.
Only a learned, and a manly soul
I purpos'd her ; that should, with even pow'rs,
The rock, the spindle, and the shears control
Of Destiny, and spin her own free hours.
Such when I meant to feign, and wish'd to see,
My Muse bade, Bedford write, and that was she.
SONG
70 CELIA
Kiss me, sweet : the wary lover
Can your favors keep, and cover.
When the common courting jay
All your bounties will betray.
Kiss again : no creature comes.
Kiss, and score up wealthy sums
On my lips, thus hardly sund'red,
While you breathe. First give a hundred,
Then a thousand, then another
Hundred, then unto the tother
Add a thousand, and so more :
Till you equal with the store,
All the grass that Romney yields,
Or the sands in Chelsea fields,
Or the drops in- silver Thames,
Or the stars, that gild his streams,
In the silent summer nights,
When youths ply their stol'n delights
That the curious may not know
How to tell 'em as they flow,
And the envious, when they find
What their number is, be pin'd.
TO THE SAME.
DRINK to me only with thine eyes,
And I will pledge with mine ;
Or leave a kiss but in the cup,
And I'll not look for wine.
The thirst, that from the sou. d >th rise,
Doth ask a drink divine :
But might I of Jove's nectar sup,
I would not change for thine.
1 sent thee, late, a rosy wreath,
Not so much honoring thee,
As giving it a hope, that there
It could not wither'd be.
But thou thereon did'st only breathe,
And sent'st it back to me :
Since when, it grows, and smells, I swear
Not of itself, but thee.
FROM THE SHEPHERD'S HOLIDAY.
THUS, thus, begin : the yearly rites
Are due to Pan on these bright nights ;
His morn now riseth, and invites
To sports, to dances, and delights :
All envious and profane, away,
This is the shepherd's holiday.
Strew, strew, the glad and smiling ground,
With every flower, yet not confound
The primrose drop, the spring's own spouse
Bright daisies, and the lips of cows,
The garden-star, the queen of May,
The rose, to crown the holiday.
Drop, drop, you violets, change your hues,
Now red, now pale, as lovers use,
And in your death go out as well
As when you lived unto the smell :
That from your odor all may say
This is the shepherd's holiday
LOVE, A LITTLE BOY
FROM THE
MASQUE ON LORD HADDINGTON'S MARRIAGE
FIRST GRACE.
BEAUTIES, have ye seen this toy,
Called Love, a little boy,
Almost naked, wanton, blind,
Cruel now ; and then as kind ?
OF THE
BRITISH POETS
WITH
anal ClRITFIKCAIL, IPMIElFAriE S
BY
THE WORKS
OF THE
BRITISH POETS
SELECTED AND CHEONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED
FROM
BEN JONSON TO BEATTIE,
WITH
BIOGEAPHICAL AND CRITICAL NOTICES.
BY
DR. AIKIN.
VOLUME I.
A NEW REVISED EDITION,
toitfc $itu Stnl
NEW-YORK :
D. APPLETON & COMPANY
346 <fc 348 BROADWAY.
Stacl
Annex
V, \
CONTENTS.
BEN JONSON.
To William Camden
From Cynthia's Revels
From the Silent Woman
Hags
Epitaph on the Countess of Pembroke, Sister
to Sir Philip Sidney
On Lucy Countess of Bedford
Song to Celia
To the same
From the Shepherd's Holiday
Love, a little Boy. From the Masque on
Lord Haddington's Marriage
Epitaph on Elizabeth L. H
COWLEY.
The Motto. Tentanda via est, SfC ........
Honor ................................
Of Myself ............................
The Chronicle. A Ballad ................
Anacreontics ; or some Copies of Verses, trans-
lated paraphrastically out of Anacreon.
I. Love .........................
II. Drinking .....................
III. Beauty .......................
V. Age .........................
VII. Gold .........................
VIII. The Epicure ..................
IX. Another ......................
X. The Grasshopper ..............
XI. The Swallow ..................
Elegy upon Anacreon ; who was choked by
a Grape-stone. Spoken by the God of
Love ...............................
Ode, from Catullus. Acme and Septimius
The Complaint .........................
Hymn to Light ........................
Against Hope ..........................
For Hope .............................
Claudian's Old Man of Verona ...........
The Wish., ..........................
From the Davideis ....................
MILTON.
L' Allegro
II Penseroso
Lycidas
Comus
Paradise Lost In Twelve BOOKS.
Book 1 29
II 35
III 43
IV 49
V. 57
VI 64
VII 70
VIII 75
IX 80
X. . , 89
XI 97
XII 10
Paradise Regained. In Four Books.
Book 1 109
II. 113
III 117
IV. 120
Samson Agonistes ; a Dramatic Poem 126
Christmas Hymn 140
WALLER.
To Amoret 143
To the Same ib.
Of Love ib
Of the Marriage of the Dwarfs 144
A Panegyric to my Lord Protector, of the
Present Greatness, and Joint Interest, of
his Highness and this Nation ib.
Of English Verse 146
The Story of Phoebus and Daphne applied . . ib.
Song ib.
To Phyllis ib.
On a Girdle 147
To Zelinda ib.
To a Lady ib.
DRYDEN.
Annus Mirabilis : the Year of Wonders, 1666 149
Alexander's Feast : or, the Power of Music.
An Ode in honor of St. Cecilia's Day 160
Palamon and Arcite : or, the Knight's Talc.
In Three Books.
Book 1 162
II 166
III 171
The Wife of Bath, her Tale 179
The Character of a Good Parson 183
Theodore and Honoria 184
Religio Laici. An Epistle 187
17K!50l
CONTENTS.
Page
To Sir Godfrey Kneller, principal Painter to
His Majesty 191
Page
The Cock and the Fox ; or, the Tale of the
Nun's Priest 192
The Flower and the Leaf: or, the Lady in
the Arbor 198
Rural Sports. A Georgic. In Two Cantoes.
Canto 1 284
Cymon and Iphigenia 203
J. PHILIPS.
The> 5nlfnHirI Shilling 20R
II 2fc6
Trivia : or the Art of walking the Streets of
London. In Three Books.
Book I. Of the Implements for Walking
the Streets, and Signs of the
Weather 287
Cider : a Poem, in two Books.
Book I 209
II. Of Walking the Streets by Day 289
III. Of Walking the Streets by Night 294
II 215
Sweet William's Farewell to Black-eyed Susan 29 7
PARNELL.
A Ballad, from the What-d'ye-call-it ib.
Fable. The Goat without a Beard 298
Fable The Universal Apparition ib
Fable The Jugglers 299
A Night-Piece on Death 223
The Shepherd's Week. In Six Pastorals ... 300
The Hermit 224
Monday ; or, the Squabble 301
Tuesday ; or the Ditty . 302
An Allegory on Man 227
Wednesday ; or, the Dumps 303
Thursday ; or, the Spell 305
Friday ; or, the Dirge 306
Saturday or the Flights 308
ROWE.
Fable. The Farmer's Wife and the Raven . 309
Fable The Turkey and the Ant ib.
Colin's Complaint A Song 230
The Contented Shepherd. To Mrs. A
D afterwards his Wife 231
GREEN.
A Song. Ah ! Willow. To the same in her
The Spleen. An Epistle to Mr. Cuthbcrt
Jackson 310
ADDISON.
On Barclay's Apology for the Quakers 317
The Seeker ib
. A Letter from Italy to the Right Hon. Charles
' Lord Halifax, in the year 1701 232
The Grotto. Written by Mr. Green, under
the name of Peter Drake, a fisherman of
Brentford 313
To Sir Godfrey Kneller, on his Picture of the
King 237
The Sparrow and Diamond. A Song 320
Paraphrase on Psalm XXIII 238
PRIOR.
TICKELL.
Colin and Lucy. A Ballad -. 321
To the Earl of Warwick, on the Death of Mr.
Addison 322
of the Nut-Brown Maid 240
An Imitation of the Prophecy of Nereus.
From Horace Book II. Ode XV 323
Three Cantoes.
Canto I 246
An Epistle from a Lady in England to a
II 249
An Ode, inscribed to the Earl ofi Sunderland
III 253
at Windsor 325
Solomon on the Vanity of the World. A Poem,
in Three Books.
Book I. Knowledge 258
HAMMOND.
II. Pleasure . . . 264
III. Power 272
Eleffv 326
The Thief and the Cordelier. A Ballad. . . 279
Song ib
The Garland 280
An English Padlock ib
SOMERVILLE.
A Song 281
The Female Phaeton ib
__ p. TV P^rvlr
The Despairing Shepherd '. . . . ib.
Book I . . 328
An Ode ib
II 331
The Lady's Looking-Glass. In imitation of
HI , 335
a Groek Idyllium 282
IV. .. . . 34ft
CONTENTS.
POPE.
The Rape of the Lock. An Heroi-Comical
Poem. In Five Cantoes
Page
Canto 1.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
346
347
348
349
351
Prologue to Mr. Addison's Tragedy of Cato 352
Eloisa to Abelard ib.
The Temple of Fame 355
The Fable of Dryope. From Ovid's Meta-
Vertumnus and Pomona. From the sarm
Book IV .360
An Essay on Man. In Four Epistles.
Epistle I. Of the Nature and State of Man
with respect to the Universe 361
II. Of the Nature and State of Man
with respect to Himself, as
an Individual 36*
III. Of the Nature and State of Man
with respect to Society 366
IV. Of the Nature and State of Man
with respect to Happiness . . . 368
Moral Essays. In Five Epistles to several
Persons.
Epistle I. Of the Knowledge and Char-
' acters of Men 372
II. Of the Characters of Women
III. On the Use of Riches 376
IV. Of the Use of Riches. ...... 379
V. To Mr. Addison, occasioned
by his Dialogues on Medals 381
Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot, being the Prologue
to the Satires 382
Messiah, a Sacred Eclogue, in imitation of
Virgil's Pollio 385
Elegy to the Memory of an Unfortunate Lady 386
Satire "
Epistle to Robert Earl of Oxford and Earl
Mortimer 388
SWIFT.
Cadenus and Vanessa 390
Stella's Birth-Day 397
The Journal of a Modern Lady, in a Letter
to a Person of Quality ib.
On the Death of Dr. Swift 399
Baucis and Philemon. On the ever-lamented
loss of the two Yew-trees in the Parish of
Chilthorne, Somerset. Imitated from the
Eighth Book of Ovid 403
A Description of the Morning 405
The Grand Question Debated : Whether Ham-
ilton's Bawn should be turned into a Bar-
rack or a Malt-house ib.
On Poetry : a Rhapsody 406
A Description of a City-Shower, in imitation
of Virgil's Georgics 410
Horace, Book III. Ode II. To the Earl of
Oxford, late Lord Treasurer. Sent to him
when in the Tower 411
Mrs. Harris's Petition ib.
To the Earl of Petcrborow, who commanded
the British Forces in Spain 412
The Progress of Poetry ib.
THOMSON.
Page
The Seasons :
Spring 415
Summer 424
Autumn 437
Winter 447
The Castle of Indolence: an Allegorical Poem.
In Two Cantoes.
Canto 1 457
II 463
Ancient and Modern Italy compared : being
the First Foit of "Liberty," a Poem 469
morphoses, Book IX 359- Greece : being the Second Part of" Liberty," 472
Rome: beinj- the Third Part of " Liberty," 477
Britain: bc:rir the Fourth Part of " Liberty," 482
The Prospect: being the Fifth Part of
" Liberty," 492
Ode 498
The Happy Man ib.
Song ib.
Song 499
Ode ib.
Hymn on Solitude ib.
To the Rev. Mr. Murdoch, Rector of Strad-
dishall, in Suffolk ib.
A. PHILIPS.
To the Earl of Dorset 500
A Hymn to Venus, from the Greek of Sappho 501
A Fragment of Sappho ib.
COLLINS.
Ode to Pity 502
Ode to Fear 503
Ode, written in the year 1746 ib.
Ode to a Lady, on the Death of Col. Charles
Ross, in the Action at Fontenoy 504
Ode to Evening ib.
Ode to Liberty 505
The Passions, an Ode for Music 506
Dirge in Cymbeline 507
An Ode on the popular Superstitions of the
Highlands of Scotland ; considered as the
Subject of Poetry ib.
Ode on the Death of Mr.'' Thomson 509
DYER.
Srongar Hill 511
The Ruins of Rome 512
SHENSTONE.
The School-Mistress. In Imitation of Spenser 517
Elegy, describing the sorrow of an ingenuous
mind, on the melancholy event of a licen-
tious amour 520
A Pastoral Ballad. In Four Parts.
Part I. Absence 521
II. Hope ib.
III. Solicitude 522
IV. Disappointment ib.
The Dying Kid 523
CONTENTS.
CHURCHILL.
Page
The Rosciad 524
YOUNG.
A Paraphrase on Part of the Book of Job. . . 533
The Complaint : or, Night-Thoughts.
Night the First: on Life, Death, and Im-
mortality 537
Night the Second: on Time, Death, and
Friendship 540
Night the Third : Narcissa 545
Night the Fourth : the Christian Triumph 549
Night the Fifth : the Relapse 555
Night the Sixth : the Infidel Reclaimed. In
Two Parts. Part 1 563
Night the Seventh : the Infidel Reclaimed.
Part II 570
Night the Eighth : Virtue's Apology ; or,
the Man of the World answered 582
Night the Ninth and Last: the Consola-
tion 592
Love of Fame, the Universal Passion. In
Seven Characteristical Satires.
Satire I * 610
II * 612
III. . . 614
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
616
fi!8
G23
6-21
AKENSIDE.
The Pleasures of Imagination. A Poem, in
Three Books.
Book 1 631
II 635
III 641
Ode to the Right Honorable Francis Earl of
Huntingdon 646
Hymn to the Naiads 648
Ode to the Right Rev. Benjamin, Lord Bishop
of Winchester 650
GRAY.
Hymn to Adversity , 653
Elegy written in a Country Church Yard. . . ib.
The Progress of Poesy. A Pindaric Ode .. 654
Ode on the Spring 655
Ode for Music 656
Ode on the Death of a favorite Cat, drowned
in a Tub of Gold Fishes 65'
Ode on a distant Prospect of Eton College . . ib.
The Bard. A Pindaric Ode 658
The Fatal Sisters. An Ode 660
The Descent of Odin. An Ode 661
The Triumphs of Owen. A Fragment. ... ib,
SMOLLETT.
The Tears of Scotland 663
Ode to Leven-Water ib.
Ode to Independence 664
LITTELTON.
i>agc
The Progress of Love. In Four Eclogues.
Eclogue I. Uncertainty 666
II. Hope 667
III. Jealousy 668
IV. Possession 669
To the Rev. Dr. Ayscough, at Oxford ib.
Song.
Song.
670
671
ib*
Memory of the first Lady Littelton.
A Monody ib.
GOLDSMITH.
The Traveller : or, a Prospect of Society . . 675
The Deserted Village 678
The Hermit A Ballad 681
Retaliation. A Poem 682
Stanzas on Woman. From the Vicar of Wake-
field 684
Song ib
JOHNSON.
London : a Poem. In imitation of the Third
Satire of Juvenal 686
The Vanity of Human Wishes, in imitation
of the Tenth Satire of Juvenal 688
Prologue, spoken by Mr. Garrick, at the open-
ing of the Theatre-Royal, Drury-lane, 1747, 691
On the Death of Mr. Robert Levet, a Practiser
in Physic ib.
ARMSTRONG.
The Art of preserving Health. In four Books.
Book I. Air 693
II. Diet 696
III. Exercise 700
IV. The Passions 704
J. WARTON.
Ode to Fancy 710
Verses, written at Montauban in France. ... 71J
T. WARTON.
Ode to the First of April 713
Ode. The Crusade ib.
The Progress of Discontent 714
Inscription in a Hermitage, at Ansley Hall,
in Warwickshire 715
Ode. The Hamlet 711
Ode sent to a Friend, on his leaving a favorite
Village in Hampshire ib
The Pleasures of Melancholy 717
MASON.
Ode to Memory 720
Ode to Independency 721
Elegy on the Death of a Lady 722
Epitaph on Mrs. Mason, in the Cathedral of
Bristol. . . . . . ib
CONTENTS.
Page
COWPER.
Boadicea. An Ode 724
Heroism ib.
On the Receipt of my Mother's Picture out of
Norfolk, the Gift of my Cousin Ann Bod-
ham 725
Friendship 726
Retirement 727
The Task. In Six Books.
Book I. The Sofa 733
II. The Time-Piece 739
' II. The Garden 746
IV. The Winter Evening 752
V. The Winter-Morning Walk 758
VI. The Winter Walk at Noon 764
Tirocinium : or, a Review of Schools 772
Page
Table-Talk 779
Conversation 784
Verses supposed to be written by Alexander
Selkirk, during his solitary Abode in the
Island of Juan Fernandez. 791
John Gilpin 792
An Epistle to Joseph Hill, Esq 794
Yardley Oak ib.
The Cast-away 796
BEATTIE.
The Minstrel : or, The Progress of Gemus.
In Two Books.
Book 1 798
II 802
fist 0f tju (ffingrsirings
VOLUME I.
PAGE
FRONTISPIECE CELIA.
ZELINDA, - 147
HENRY AND EMMA, - - 240
ELOISA AND ABELARD, - - 352
SAPPHO, - 501
SOLICITUDE, - - 532
NIGHT THOUGHTS, - - 537
LEVEN WATER, -. - - 663
ODE TO FANCY, 710
THE MINSTREL, - - - - - - 798
BENJAMIN JONSON.
BENJAMIN JOXSON, (or Johnson,) a poet, who, I gives a particular examination of his " Silent Wo
during life, attained a distinguished character, was I man," as a model of perfection. He afterwards
the posthumous son of a clergyman in Westmins
where he was born in 1574, about a month after his
father's decease. His family was originally from
Scotland, whence his grandfather removed to Car-
lisle, in the reign of Henry VIII.
Benjamin received his education under the learned
Camden, at Westminster school ; and had made
extraordinary progress in his studies, when his mo-
ther, who had married a bricklayer for her second
husband, took him away to work under his step-
father. From this humble employment he escaped,
by enlisting as a soldier in the army, then serving in
the Netherlands against the Spaniards. An exploit
which he here performed, of killing an enemy in
single combat, gave him room to boast ever after of
n degree of courage which has not often been found
in alliance with poetical distinction.
On his return, Jonson entered himself at St.
John's College, Cambridge, which he was shortly
obliged to quit from the scanty state of his finan
He then turned his thoughts
applied for employment at the
the stage, and
theatres; but his
talents, as an actor, could only procure for him
admission at an obscure playhouse in the suburbs.
Here he had the misfortune to kill a fellow-actor
in a duel, for which he was thrown into prison.
The state of mind to which he was here brought,
gave the advantage to a Popish priest in converting
him to the Catholic faith, under which religion he
continued for twelve years.
After his liberation from prison, he married, and
applied in earnest to writing for the stage, in which
he appears to have already made several attempts.
His comedy of "Every Man in his Humor," the
first of his acknowledged pieces, was performed with
applause in 1596; and henceforth he continued to
furnish a play yearly, till his time was occupied by
the composition of the masques and other enter-
tainments, by which the accession of James was
celebrated. Dryden, in his Essay on Dramatic
Poetry, speaks of him as the " most learned and
judicious writer which any theatre ever had." and
however, seems to make large deductions from this
commendation. "You seldom (says Dryden) find
him making love in any of his scenes, or endeavor-
ng to move the passions ; his genius was too sullen
and saturnine to do it gracefully. Humor was his
proper sphere ; and in that he delighted most to
represent mechanics." Besides his comedies, Jonson
composed two tragedies, Sejanus and Catiline, bcth
formed upon ancient models, and full of trans-
lations ; and neither of them successful. His dra-
matic compositions, however, do not come within
the scope of the present publication.
In 1616, he published a folio volume of his works,
which procured for him a grant from his majesty of
the salary of poet-laureate for life, though he did not
take possession of the post till three years after.
With high intellectual endowments, he had many
unamiable traits in his character, having a high de-
gree of pride and self-conceit, with a disposition to
abuse and disparage every one who incurred his
jealousy or displeasure. Jonson was reduced
to necessitous circumstances in the latter part of
his life, though he obtained from Charles I an ad-
vance of his salary as laureate. He died in 1637 a*
the age of 63, being at that time considered as at the
head of English poetry. He was interred in West-
minster Abbey, where an inscription was placed over
his grave, familiarly expressive of the reputation
he had acquired among his countrymen: it was,
"O rare Ben Jonson." Six months after his death,
a collection of poems to his honor, by a number
of the most eminent writers and scholars in the na-
tion, was published, with the title of "Jonsonius
Virbius ; or the memory of Ben Jonson, revived by
the Friends of the Muses."
Although, as a general poet, Jonson for the mosl
part merits the character of harsh, frigid, and tedious;
there are, however, some strains in which he appears
with singular elegance, and may be placed in com-
petition with some of the most favored writers of
that class.
JONSON.
TO WILLIAM CAMDEN.
CAMDEN, most reverend head, to whom I owe
All that I am in arts, all that I know
(How nothing's that!) to vhom my country owes
The great renown, and name wherewith she goes.
Than thee the age sees not that thing more grave,
More high, more holy, that she more would crave.
What name, what skill, what faith hast thou in
things!
What sight in searching the most antique springs !
What weight, and what authority in thy speech !
Man scarce can make that doubt, but thou canst
teach.
Pardon free truth, and let thy modesty,
Which conquers all, be once o'ercome by thee.
Many of thine this better could, than I,
But for their powers, accept my piety.
FROM CYNTHIA'S REVELS
QUEEN and huntress, chaste and fair,
Now the sun is laid to sleep ;
Seated in thy silver chair,
State in wonted manner keep :
Hesperus intreats thy light,
Goddess excellently bright.
Earth, let not thy envious shade
Care itself to interpose ;
Cynthia's shining orb was made
Heaven to clear, when day did close ;
Bless us then with wished sight,
Goddess excellently bright.
Lay thy bow of pearl apart,
And thy crystal-shining quiver ;
Give unto the flying heart
Space to breathe, how short soever :
Thou that mak'st a day of night,
Goddess excellently bright.
FROM THE SILENT WOMAN.
STILL to be neat, still to be drest,
As you were going to a feast ;
Still to be powder'd, still perfum'd :
Lady, it to be presum'd,
Though art's hid causes are not found,
All is not sweet, all is not sound.
Give me a look, give me a face,
That makes simplicity a grace ;
Robes loosely flowing, hair as free :
Such sweet neglect more taketh me,
Than all th' adulteries of art ;
They strike mine eyes, but not my heart.
1. I HAVE been, all day, looking after
A raven, feeding upon a quarter ;
And, soon as she turn'd her beak to the south,
I snatch'd this morsel out of her mouth.
2. I have been gathering wolves' hairs,
The mad-dogs' foam, and the adders' ears ;
The spurgings of a dead-man's eyes,
And all since the evening-star did rise.
3. I, last night, lay all alone
O' the ground, to hear the mandrake groan ;
And pluck'd him up, though he grew full low ;
And, as I had done, the cock did crow.
4. And I ha' been choosing out this skull,
From charnel-houses, that were full ;
From private grots, and public pits,
And frighted a sexton out of his wits.
5. Under a cradle I did creep,
By day ; and, when the child was asleep,
At night, I suck'd the breath ; and rose,
And pluck'd the nodding nurse by the nose.
7. A murderer, yonder, was hung in chains,
The sun and the wind had shrunk his veins ;
I bit off" a sinew, I clipp'd his hair,
I brought off his rags, that danc'd i' the air.
8. The screech-owl's eggs, and the feathers black
The blood of the frog, and the bone in his back
I have been getting ; and made of his skin
A purset, to keep Sir Cranion in.
9. And I ha' been plucking (plants among)
Hemlock, henbane, adder's tongue,
Night-shade, moon-wort, libbard's bane;
And twice by the dogs was like to be ta'en.
10. I, from the jaws of a gardener's bitch,
Did snatch these bones, and then leap'd the ditch
Yet went I back to the house again,
Kill'd the black cat, and here's the brain.
11. I went to the toad breeds under the wall
I charm'd him out, and he came at my call ;
I scratch'd out the eyes of the owl before,
I tore the bat's wing : what would you have more I
Yes, I have brought (to help our vows)
Horned poppy, cypress boughs,
The fig-tree wild, that grows on tombs,
And juice, that from the larch-tree comes,
The Sasilisk's blood, and the viper's skin:
And, now, our orgies let's begin.
EPITAPH
ON THE COUNTESS OF PEMBROKE, SISTER TO
SIR PHILIP SIDNEY.
UNDERNEATH this marble herse
Lies the subject of all verse,
Sidney's sister, Pembroke's mother;
Death, ere thou hast slain another
Learn'd, and fair, and good as she,
Time shall throw his dart at thee.
MISCELLANEOUS PIECES.
ON LUCY, COUNTESS OF BEDFORD.
THIS morning, timely rapt with holy fire,
I thought to form unto my zealous Muse,
What kind of creature I could most desire,
To honor, serve, and love ; as poets use.
I meant to make her fair, and free, and wise,
Of greatest blood, and yet more good than great;
1 meant the day-star should not brighter rise,
Nor lend like influence from his lucent seat
i meant she should be courteous, facile, sweet,
Hating that solemn vice of greatness, pride ;
I meant each softest virtue there should meet.
Fit in that softer bosom to reside.
Only a learned, and a manly soul
I purpos'd her ; that should, with even pow'rs,
The rock, the spindle, and the shears control
Of Destiny, and spin her own free hours.
Such when I meant to feign, and wish'd to see,
My Muse bade, Bedford write, and that was she.
SONG
70 CELIA
Kiss me, sweet : the wary lover
Can your favors keep, and cover.
When the common courting jay
All your bounties will betray.
Kiss again : no creature comes.
Kiss, and score up wealthy sums
On my lips, thus hardly sund'red,
While you breathe. First give a hundred,
Then a thousand, then another
Hundred, then unto the tother
Add a thousand, and so more :
Till you equal with the store,
All the grass that Romney yields,
Or the sands in Chelsea fields,
Or the drops in- silver Thames,
Or the stars, that gild his streams,
In the silent summer nights,
When youths ply their stol'n delights
That the curious may not know
How to tell 'em as they flow,
And the envious, when they find
What their number is, be pin'd.
TO THE SAME.
DRINK to me only with thine eyes,
And I will pledge with mine ;
Or leave a kiss but in the cup,
And I'll not look for wine.
The thirst, that from the sou. d >th rise,
Doth ask a drink divine :
But might I of Jove's nectar sup,
I would not change for thine.
1 sent thee, late, a rosy wreath,
Not so much honoring thee,
As giving it a hope, that there
It could not wither'd be.
But thou thereon did'st only breathe,
And sent'st it back to me :
Since when, it grows, and smells, I swear
Not of itself, but thee.
FROM THE SHEPHERD'S HOLIDAY.
THUS, thus, begin : the yearly rites
Are due to Pan on these bright nights ;
His morn now riseth, and invites
To sports, to dances, and delights :
All envious and profane, away,
This is the shepherd's holiday.
Strew, strew, the glad and smiling ground,
With every flower, yet not confound
The primrose drop, the spring's own spouse
Bright daisies, and the lips of cows,
The garden-star, the queen of May,
The rose, to crown the holiday.
Drop, drop, you violets, change your hues,
Now red, now pale, as lovers use,
And in your death go out as well
As when you lived unto the smell :
That from your odor all may say
This is the shepherd's holiday
LOVE, A LITTLE BOY
FROM THE
MASQUE ON LORD HADDINGTON'S MARRIAGE
FIRST GRACE.
BEAUTIES, have ye seen this toy,
Called Love, a little boy,
Almost naked, wanton, blind,
Cruel now ; and then as kind ?
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