*209*

TO THE WATER-NYMPHS DRINKING AT THE

FOUNTAIN

REACH with your whiter hands to me

Some crystal of the spring;

And I about the cup shall see

Fresh lilies flourishing.

Or else, sweet nymphs, do you but this-
To th' glass your lips incline ;

And I shall see by that one kiss
The water turn'd to wine.

*210*

HOW SPRINGS CAME FIRST

THESE Springs were maidens once that loved
But lost to that they most approved :
My story tells, by Love they were
Turn'd to these springs which we see here:
The pretty whimpering that they make,
When of the banks their leave they take,
Tells ye but this, they are the same,
In nothing changed but in their name.

As is your name, so is your comely face
Touch'd every where with such diffuséd grace,
As that in all that admirable round,
There is not one least solecism found;
And as that part, so every portion else
Keeps line for line with beauty's parallels.

* 212*

A HYMN TO THE GRACES

WHEN I love, as some have told
Love I shall, when I am old,

O ye Graces! make me fit
For the welcoming of it!
Clean my rooms, as temples be,
To entertain that deity;

Give me words wherewith to woo,
Suppling and successful too;
Winning postures; and withal,
Manners each way musical;
Sweetness to allay my sour
And unsmooth behaviour:

For I know you have the skill
Vines to prune, though not to kill,

And of any wood ye see,

You can make a Mercury.

* 213 *

A HYMN TO LOVE

I WILL confess

With cheerfulness,

Love is a thing so likes me,

That, let her lay

On me all day,

I'll kiss the hand that strikes me.

I will not, I,

Now blubb'ring cry,

It, ah! too late repents me

That I did fall

To love at all

Since love so much contents me.

No, no, I'll be

In fetters free;

While others they sit wringing

Their hands for pain,

I'll entertain

The wounds of love with singing.

With flowers and wine,

And cakes divine,

To strike me I will tempt thee; Which done, no more

I'll come before

Thee and thine altars empty.

* 214*

UPON LOVE:

BY WAY OF QUESTION AND ANSWER

I BRING ye love. Ques. What will love do?
Ans. Like, and dislike ye.

I bring ye love. Ques. What will love do?
Ans. Stroke ye, to strike ye.

I bring ye love. Ques. What will love do?
Ans. Love will be-fool ye.

I bring ye love. Ques. What will love do?
Ans. Heat ye, to cool ye.

I bring ye love. Ques. What will love do?
Ans. Love, gifts will send ye.

I bring ye love. Ques. What will love do?
Ans. Stock ye, to spend ye.

I bring ye love. Ques. What will love do?
Ans. Love will fulfil ye.

I bring ye love. Ques. What will love do?
Ans. Kiss ye, to kill ye.

* 215 *

LOVERS HOW THEY COME AND PART

A GYGES ring they bear about them still,
To be, and not seen when and where they will;
They tread on clouds, and though they sometimes fail,
They fall like dew, and make no noise at all:

So silently they one to th' other come,
As colours steal into the pear or plum,

And air-like, leave no pression to be seen
Where'er they met, or parting place has been.

* 216*

THE KISS:

A DIALOGUE

I AMONG thy fancies, tell me this,
What is the thing we call a kiss?
2 I shall resolve ye what it is :-

It is a creature born and bred
Between the lips, all cherry-red,

By love and warm desires fed,—

Chor. And makes more soft the bridal bed.

2 It is an active flame, that flies

First to the babies of the eyes,

And charms them there with lullabies,

Chor. And stills the bride, too, when she cries.

2 Then to the chin, the cheek, the ear,
It frisks and flies, now here, now there :
'Tis now far off, and then 'tis near,-
Chor. And here, and there, and every where.

I Has it a speaking virtue? 2 Yes.
I How speaks it, say? 2 Do you but this,--
Part your join'd lips, then speaks your kiss ;
Chor. And this Love's sweetest language is.