The Hesperides Noble Numbers: Vol. 1 and 2 | Page 7

and bowers,
Of April, May, of
June and July-flowers;
I sing of May-poles, hock-carts, wassails,
wakes,
Of bridegrooms, brides and of their bridal cakes;
I write of
youth, of love, and have access
By these to sing of cleanly
wantonness;
I sing of dews, of rains, and piece by piece
Of balm, of
oil, of spice and ambergris;
I sing of times trans-shifting, and I write

How roses first came red and lilies white;
I write of groves, of
twilights, and I sing
The Court of Mab, and of the Fairy King;
I
write of hell; I sing (and ever shall)
Of heaven, and hope to have it
after all.

_Hock-cart_, the last cart from the harvest-field.
_Wakes_, village
festivals, properly on the dedication-day of a church. _Ambergris_,
'grey amber,' much used in perfumery.
2. TO HIS MUSE.
Whither, mad maiden, wilt thou roam?
Far safer 'twere to stay at
home,
Where thou mayst sit and piping please
The poor and private
cottages,
Since cotes and hamlets best agree
With this thy meaner
minstrelsy.
There with the reed thou mayst express
The shepherd's
fleecy happiness,
And with thy eclogues intermix
Some smooth and
harmless bucolics.
There on a hillock thou mayst sing
Unto a
handsome shepherdling,
Or to a girl, that keeps the neat,
With
breath more sweet than violet.
There, there, perhaps, such lines as
these
May take the simple villages;
But for the court, the country
wit
Is despicable unto it.
Stay, then, at home, and do not go
Or fly
abroad to seek for woe.
Contempts in courts and cities dwell,
No
critic haunts the poor man's cell,
Where thou mayst hear thine own
lines read
By no one tongue there censured.
That man's unwise will
search for ill,
And may prevent it, sitting still.
3. TO HIS BOOK.
While thou didst keep thy candour undefil'd,
Dearly I lov'd thee as
my first-born child,
But when I saw thee wantonly to roam
From
house to house, and never stay at home,
I brake my bonds of love,
and bade thee go,
Regardless whether well thou sped'st or no.
On
with thy fortunes then, whate'er they be:
If good, I'll smile; if bad, I'll
sigh for thee.
4. ANOTHER.
To read my book the virgin shy
May blush while Brutus standeth by,

But when he's gone, read through what's writ,

And never stain a
cheek for it.

_Brutus_, see Martial, xi. 16, quoted in Note at the end of the volume.
7. TO HIS BOOK.
Come thou not near those men who are like bread
O'er-leaven'd, or
like cheese o'er-renneted.
8. WHEN HE WOULD HAVE HIS VERSES READ.
In sober mornings, do not thou rehearse
The holy incantation of a
verse;
But when that men have both well drunk and fed,
Let my
enchantments then be sung or read.
When laurel spirts i'th' fire, and
when the hearth
Smiles to itself, and gilds the roof with mirth;

When up the thyrse[C] is rais'd, and when the sound
Of sacred
orgies[D] flies, a round, a round.
When the rose reigns, and locks
with ointments shine,
Let rigid Cato read these lines of mine.
_Round_, a rustic dance.
_Cato_, see Martial, x. 17, quoted in Note.
[C] "A javelin twined with ivy" (Note in the original edition).
[D] "Songs to Bacchus" (Note in the original edition.)
9. UPON JULIA'S RECOVERY.
Droop, droop no more, or hang the head,
Ye roses almost withered;

Now strength and newer purple get,
Each here declining violet.
O
primroses! let this day be
A resurrection unto ye;
And to all flowers
ally'd in blood,
Or sworn to that sweet sisterhood:
For health on
Julia's cheek hath shed
Claret and cream commingled;
And those
her lips do now appear
As beams of coral, but more clear.
_Beams_, perhaps here = branches: but cp. 440.
10. TO SILVIA TO WED.
Let us, though late, at last, my Silvia, wed,
And loving lie in one

devoted bed.
Thy watch may stand, my minutes fly post-haste;
No
sound calls back the year that once is past.
Then, sweetest Silvia, let's
no longer stay;
_True love, we know, precipitates delay._
Away
with doubts, all scruples hence remove;
_No man at one time can be
wise and love._
11. THE PARLIAMENT OF ROSES TO JULIA.
I dreamt the roses one time went
To meet and sit in parliament;
The
place for these, and for the rest
Of flowers, was thy spotless breast,

Over the which a state was drawn
Of tiffanie or cobweb lawn.
Then
in that parly all those powers
Voted the rose the queen of flowers;

But so as that herself should be
The maid of honour unto thee.
_State_, a canopy.
_Tiffanie_, gauze.
_Parly_, a parliament.
12. NO BASHFULNESS IN BEGGING.
To get thine ends, lay bashfulness aside;
_Who fears to ask doth teach
to be deny'd._
13. THE FROZEN HEART.
I freeze, I freeze, and nothing dwells
In me but snow and icicles.

For pity's sake, give your advice,
To melt this snow and thaw this ice.

I'll drink down flames; but if so be
Nothing but love can supple me,

I'll rather keep this frost and snow
Than to be thaw'd or heated so.
14. TO PERILLA.
Ah, my Perilla! dost thou grieve to see
Me, day by day, to steal away
from thee?
Age calls me hence, and my grey hairs bid come,
And
haste away to mine