I.

DID not the heavenly rhetoric of thine eye,a
'Gainst whom the world could not hold argument,
Persuade my heart to this false perjury?
Vows for thee broke deserve not punishment.
A woman I forswore; but, I will prove,
Thou being a goddess, I forswore not thee:
My vow was earthly, thou a heavenly love;
Thy grace being gain'd cures all disgrace in me.
My vow was breath, and breath a vapour is ;
Then, thou fair sun, that on this earth doth shine,
Exhale this vapour vow; in thee it is:
If broken then, it is no fault of mine.

If by me broke, what fool is not so wise
To lose an oath to win a paradise ?

II.

Sweet Cytherea, sitting by a brook,
With young Adonis, lovely-fresh and green,
Did court the lad with many a lovely look,--
Such looks as none could look but beauty's queen.
She told him stories to delight his ear; b
She show'd him favours to allure his eye;

To win his heart, she touch'd him here and there,

Touches so soft still conquer chastity ;—
But whether unripe years did want conceit,
Or he refus'd to take her figur'd proffer,
The tender nibbler would not touch the bait,
But smile and jest at every gentle offer:

Then fell she on her back, fair queen and toward;

He rose and ran away,-ah, fool too froward!

If knowledge be the mark, to know thee shall suffice;

Well learned is that tongue that well can thee commend ;

All ignorant that soul that sees thee without wonder;

Which is to me some praise, that I thy parts admire :

Thine eye Jove's lightning seems, thy voice his dreadful thunder,

Which, not to anger bent, is music and sweet fire.

Celestial as thou art, O, do not love that wrong, To sing the heavens' praise with such an earthly tongue!

IV.

Scarce had the sun dried up the dewy morn,
And scarce the herd gone to the hedge for shade,
When Cytherea, all in love forlorn,

A longing tarriance for Adonis made
Under an osier growing by a brook,

A brook where Adon used to cool his spleen :
Hot was the day; she hotter that did look
For his approach, that often there had been.
Anon he comes, and throws his mantle by,
And stood stark naked on the brook's green brim :
The sun look'd on the world with glorious eye,
Yet not so wistly as this queen on him:

He, spying her, bounc'd in, whereas he stood; "O Jove," quoth she, "why was not I a flood!

V.

Fair is my love, but not so fair as fickle;
Mild as a dove, but neither true nor trusty ;
Brighter than glass, and yet, as glass is, brittle;
Softer than wax, and yet, as iron, rusty:

A lily pale, with damask dye to grace her,
None fairer, nor none falser to deface her.

Her lips to mine how often hath she join❜d,
Between each kiss her oaths of true love swearing!
How many tales to please me hath she coin'd,
Dreading my love, the loss thereof still fearing!
Yet in the midst of all her pure protestings,
Her faith, her oaths, her tears, and all were
jestings.

"When my love swears that she is made of truth," &c.

and No. CXLIV.: "Two loves I have," &c.

bto delight his ear;] The old text has, "ears."

c If love make me forsworn,-] See "Love's Labour's Lost," Aet IV. Sc. 2.

If music and sweet poetry agree,”

As they must needs, the sister and the brother,
Then must the love be great 'twixt thee and me,
Because thou lov'st the one, and I the other.
Dowland to thee is dear, whose heavenly touch
Upon the lute doth ravish human sense;
Spenser to me, whose deep conceit is such,
As, passing all conceit, needs no defence.
Thou lov'st to hear the sweet melodious sound
That Phoebus' lute, the queen of music, makes;
And I in deep delight am chiefly drown'd,
Whenas himself to singing he betakes.

One god is god of both, as poets feign;
One knight loves both, and both in thee remain.

Paler for sorrow than her milk-white dove,
For Adon's sake, a youngster proud and wild ;
Her stand she takes upon a steep-up hill:
Anon Adonis comes with horn and hounds;
She, silly queen, with more than love's good will,
Forbade the boy he should not pass those
grounds;

"Once," quoth she, "did I see a fair sweet youth Here in these brakes deep-wounded with a boar, Deep in the thigh, a spectacle of ruth!

See in my thigh," quoth she, "here was the sore:"

She showed hers; he saw more wounds than one,

And blushing fled, and left her all alone.

And yet thou left'st me more than I did crave ; For why I craved nothing of thee still:

O yes, dear friend, I pardon crave of thee,Thy discontent thou didst bequeath to me.

IX.

Venus, with young Adonis sitting by her d
Under a myrtle shade, began to woo him:
She told the youngling how god Mars did try

her,

Crabbed age and youth

Cannot live together:
Youth is full of pleasance,

Age is full of care;
Youth like summer morn,
Age like winter weather;
Youth like summer brave,
Age like winter bare.
Youth is full of sport,
Age's breath is short;

Youth is nimble, age is lame;
Youth is hot and bold,
Age is weak and cold;

Youth is wild, and age is tame.

Age, I do abhor thee,

Youth, I do adore thee;

O, my love, my love is young! Age, I do defy thee :

g

O, sweet shepherd, hie thee!

For methinks thou stay'st too long.

ΧΙ.

Beauty is but a vain and doubtful good,
A shining gloss that fadeth suddenly ;
A flower that dies when first it 'gins to bud;
A brittle glass that 's broken presently:

A doubtful good, a gloss, a glass, a flower,
Lost, faded, broken, dead within an hour!

f"Even thus," quoth she, "the warlike god embrac'd me,"—) In the latter part of this Sonnet the version in Fidessa differs considerably from the one before us. There, it runs as follows:"Even thus,' quoth she, the wanton god embrac'd me;' And thus she clasp'd Adonis in her arms: 'Even thus,' quoth she, 'the warlike god unlac'd me,' As if the boy should use like loving charms :

But he, a wayward boy, refus'd her offer,

And ran away, the beauteous queen neglecting;
Showing both folly to abuse her proffer,

And all his sex of cowardice detecting;

Oh, that I had my mistress at that bay,

To kiss and clip me till I ran away."

defy thee:-] Renounce or contemn thee. So, in "Romeo

and Juliet," Act V. Sc. 3,

"I do defy thy conjurations," &c.

And as goods lost are seld or never found,
As faded gloss no rubbing will refresh,
As flowers dead lie wither'd on the ground,
As broken glass no cement can redress,-

So beauty blemish'd once for ever's lost,
In spite of physic, painting, pain, and cost.

XII.

"Good night, good rest." Ah, neither be my share!
She bade good night, that kept my rest away;
And daff'd me to a cabin hang'd with care,
To descant on the doubts of my decay.

"Farewell," quoth she, "and come again tomorrow;"

Fare well I could not, for I supp'd with sorrow.

Yet at my parting sweetly did she smile,
In scorn or friendship, nill I construe whether :
"T may be, she joy'd to jest at my exile,
'T may be, again to make me wander thither:
"Wander!" a word for shadows like myself,
As take the pain, but cannot pluck the pelf.

XIII.

Lord, how mine eyes throw gazes to the east!
My heart doth charge the watch; the morning rise

Doth cite each moving sense from idle rest.
Not daring trust the office of mine eyes,

While Philomela sits and sings, I sit and mark,

And wish her lays were tuned like the lark;

For she doth welcome daylight with her ditty,
And drives away dark dismal-dreaming night :
The night so pack'd, I post unto my pretty;
Heart hath his hope, and eyes their wished
sight;

Sorrow chang'd to solace, solace mix'd with

sorrow;

For why she sigh'd, and bade me come to

morrow.

Were I with her, the night would post too

soon;

But now are minutes added to the hours;
To spite me now, each minute seems a moon;
Yet not for me, shine sun to succour flowers!
Pack night, peep day; good day, of night now
borrow;

Short, night, to-night, and length thyself to

morrow.

XIV.

It was a lording's daughter,

The fairest one of three,
That liked of her master
As well as well might be,
Till looking on an Englishman,
The fair'st that eye could see,

Her fancy fell a-turning.
Long was the combat doubtful
That love with love did fight,
To leave the master loveless,
Or kill the gallant knight :
To put in practice either,
Alas, it was a spite

Unto the silly damsel!
But one must be refused;
More mickle was the pain,
That nothing could be used
To turn them both to gain,

a-each minute seems a moon;] A correction proposed by Steevens, the old copy reading, "an hour," &c.

valuable work, "A Critical Examination of the Text of Shakespeare," &c. which has been published while these pages were in preparation for the press, suggests that we should read, "of a master;" that is, a scholar by profession, a master of arts.

d On a day (alack the day!),-] This, as we have before re marked, is one of the three Sonnets found in "Love's Labour's Lost." It was printed also, with Shakespeare's name attached, in a collection of poems entitled, "England's Helicon," 1600, where it is entitled, The Passionate Sheepheard's Song.

b Thou for whom Jove would swear-] In this line, unless some epithet to "Jove" has been lost, "swear" is employed as a dissyllable.

My flocks feed not, &c.] These verses, under the title of The Unknown Sheepheard's Complaint, and subscribed Ignoto, are printed in "England's Helicon." They are found also, with music, in Weelkes's Madrigals, 1599. That Shakespeare had any hand either in them or in the poor effusion beginning, "It was a lording's daughter," &c. is inconceivable.

-the cause of all my moan:] So Weelkes's Madrigals, and 'England's Helicon." "The Passionate Pilgrim" has, "my woe, &c.

kAs well as fancy partial might:] This is very probably corrupt, but the change proposed by Steevens, "partial tike," is unendurable; and we have no faith in the reading said to be derived from a MS. of this poem in the possession of Mr. Collier,

Query,

"As well as partial fancy like," &c.

"As well as fancy martial might"? Compare, "Lucrece,"

"A martial man to be soft fancy's slave!" 1-filed talk,-] Polished diction.

m And set thy person forth to sell.] A reading supplied by a manuscript copy of this poem, of the age of Shakespeare, which Malone used. "The Passionate Pilgrim" has,

"her person forth to sale."

n-will clear-] So the MS. just referred to. "The Passionate Pilgrim" reads, "will calm," &c.

And then too late she will repent,
That thus dissembled her delight;

And twice desire, ere it be day,
That which with scorn she put away.

What though she strive to try her strength,
And ban and brawl, and say thee nay,
Her feeble force will yield at length,
When craft hath taught her thus to say,—
"Had women been so strong as men,
In faith you had not had it then."
And to her will frame all thy ways;
Spare not to spend,—and chiefly there
Where thy desert may merit praise,
By ringing in thy lady's ear:

The strongest castle, tower, and town,
The golden bullet beats it down.

Serve always with assured trust,
And in thy suit be humble-true;
Unless thy lady prove unjust,
Seek never thou to choose anew :

When time shall serve, be thou not slack
To proffer, though she put thee back.
The wiles and guiles that women work,
Dissembled with an outward show,
The tricks and toys that in them lurk,
The cock that treads them shall not know.
Have you not heard it said full oft,

A woman's nay doth stand for nought?

Think women love to match with men,
And not to live so like a saint:
Here is no heaven; they holy then
Begin when age does them attaint.*
Were kisses all the joys in bed,
One woman would another wed.

But soft! enough,-too much I fear;
For if my mistress hear my song;
She will not stick to ring mine ear,
To teach my tongue to be so long;

Yet will she blush, here be it said, To hear her secrets so bewray'd.

XVIII.

Live with me, and be my love,d
And we will all the pleasures prove
That hills and valleys, dales and fields,
And all the craggy mountain yields.
There will we sit upon the rocks,
And see the shepherds feed their flocks,

a Begin when age does them attaint.] This is the lection of the MS. followed by Malone; it is poor stuff, but it has the advantage of being intelligible, which cannot be said of the corresponding stanza in "The Passionate Pilgrim,"—

"Think women still to strive with men,

To sin and never for to saint;
There is no heaven by holy then,
When time with age shall them attaint."

b For if-] So the MS. "The Passionate Pilgrim" reads,― "Lest that," &c.

c She will not stick to ring mine ear,-] The reading of the MS. used by Malone. That of "The Passionate Pilgrim" is,— "to round me on th' ear," &c.

d Live with me, and be my love,-] This beautiful song, which

By shallow rivers, to whose falls
Melodious birds sing madrigals.

There will I make thee a bed of roses,
With a thousand fragrant posies,
A cap of flowers, and a kirtle,
Embroider'd all with leaves of myrtle.

A belt of straw and ivy buds,
With coral clasps and amber studs ;
And if these pleasures may thee move,
Then, live with me and be my love.

LOVE'S ANSWER.

If that the world and love were young,* And truth in every shepherd's tongue, These pretty pleasures might me move To live with thee and be thy love.

XIX.

As it fell upon a day

In the merry month of May,
Sitting in a pleasant shade
Which a grove of myrtles made,
Beasts did leap, and birds did sing,

Trees did grow, and plants did spring;
Everything did banish moan,

Save the nightingale alone:
She, poor bird, as all forlorn,
Lean'd her breast up-till a thorn,
And there sung the dolefull'st ditty,
That to hear it was great pity:
"Fie, fie, fie," now would she cry,
"Tereu, tereu!" by and by;
That to hear her so complain,
Scarce I could from tears refrain;
For her griefs, so lively shown,
Made me think upon mine own.
Ah, thought I, thou mourn'st in vain!
None takes pity on thy pain:

f

Senseless trees they cannot hear thee;
Ruthless beasts they will not cheer thee,
King Pandion he is dead;

All thy friends are lapp'd in lead;
All thy fellow-birds do sing,
Careless of thy sorrowing.
Even so, poor bird, like thee,
None alive will pity me."

XX.

Whilst as fickle Fortune smil'd, Thou and I were both beguil'd:

is imperfectly given here, will be found complete at p. 687, Vol. I. It is generally supposed to have been written by Marlowe. If that the world and love were young,-] The present version of the "Answer" is also defective. Compare the copy in "England's Helicon," where it bears the signature, often adopted by Sir Walter Raleigh, of Ignoto. See also Percy's "Reliques," Vol. I. p. 237, edit. 1812.

fbeasts, &c.] From the abridged version of this poem in "England's Helicon." "The Passionate Pilgrim" has "bears,"