Sayth she, "I may not stay till night, And all for long of thee." "My coate," sayth he, "nor yet my foulde Sayth she, "Yet lever were I dead, Sayth he, "Yet are you too unkind, And I to thee will be as kinde Of curtesie the flower." "Then will I be as true," quoth she, As ever mayden yet might be Unto her paramour." With that she bent her snow-white knee, With that the shepheard whoop'd for joy, 100 105 110 115 120 VIII. THE FAREWELL TO LOVE. From Beaumont and Fletcher's play, intitled "The Lover's Progress." A. iii. sc. i, ADIEU, fond love! farewell you wanton powers! I am free again. Thou dull disease of bloud and idle hours, Bewitching pain, Fly to fools, that sigh away their time: My nobler love to heaven doth climb, And there behold beauty still young, That time can ne'er corrupt, nor death destroy, Immortal sweetness by fair angels sung, And honoured by eternity and joy : There lies my love, thither my hopes aspire, 5 10 IX. ULYSSES AND THE SYREN, -affords a pretty poetical contest between Pleasure and Honour. It is found at the end of "Hymen's Triumph : a pastoral tragicomedie," written by Daniel, and printed among his works, 4to, 1623.*-Daniel, who was a contemporary of Drayton's, and is said to have been poet laureat to Queen Elizabeth, was born in 1562, and died in 1619. Anne Countess of Dorset, Pembroke, and Montgomery (to whom Daniel had been Tutor), has inserted a small Portrait of him in a fulllength Picture of herself, preserved at Appleby Castle, in Cumberland. This little poem is the rather selected for a specimen of Daniel's poetic powers, as it is omitted in the later edition of his works, 2 vols. 12mo. 1718. SYREN. COME, worthy Greeke, Ulysses come, Here may we sit and view their toyle, Enjoy the day in mirth the while, 5 * In this edition it is collated with a copy printed at the end of Tragedie of Cleopatra." London, 1607, 12mo. his " VOL. I. M ULYSSES. Faire nymph, if fame or honour were Then would I come and rest with thee, With danger seek it forth; To spend the time luxuriously SYREN. Ulysses, O, be not deceiv'd Begotten only to molest Our peace, and to beguile (The best thing of our life) our rest, And give us up to toyle! ULYSSES. 10 15 20 And ease findes tediousnes, as much SYREN. Then pleasure likewise seemes the shore, Which you forego to make it more, And perish oft the while. Who may disport them diversly, Find never tedious day; And ease may have variety, As well as action may. 35 40 ULYSSES. But natures of the noblest frame And with the thought of actions past When pleasure leaves a touch at last SYREN. That doth opinion only cause, No widdowes waile for our delights, ULYSSES. But yet the state of things require And these great spirits of high desire For oft we see a wicked peace, SYREN. Well, well, Ulysses, then I see I must be wonne that cannot win, T'undoo or be undone. 45 55 60 65 70 X. CUPID'S PASTIME. THIS beautiful poem, which possesses a classical elegance hardly to be expected in the age of James I. is printed from the 4th edition of Davison's "Poems,"* &c. 1621. It is also found in a later miscellany, intitled, "Le Prince d'Amour," 1660, 8vo.Francis Davison, editor of the poems above referred to, was son of that unfortunate secretary of state, who suffered so much from the affair of Mary Q. of Scots. These poems, he tells us in his preface, were written by himself, by his brother [Walter], who was a soldier in the wars of the Low Countries, and by some dear friends "anonymoi." Among them are found some pieces by Sir J. Davis, the Countess of Pembroke, Sir Philip Sidney, Spenser, and other wits of those times. In the fourth vol. of Dryden's Miscellanies, this poem is attributed to Sidney Godolphin, Esq.; but erroneously, being probably written before he was born. One edit, of Davison's book was published in 1608. Godolphin was born in 1610, and died in 1642-3. Ath. Ox. ii. 23. IT chanc'd of late a shepherd swain, Espied a dainty nymph asleep. Her golden hair o'erspred her face; Her quiver had her pillows place; Her breast lay bare to every blast. The shepherd stood and gaz'd his fill ; * See the full title in Vol. ii. Book iii. No. iv. 5 10 |