62. UPON SILVIA, A MISTRESS.

WHEN some shall say, Fair once my Silvia was,
Thou wilt complain, False now's thy looking-glass,
Which renders that quite tarnished which was green,
And priceless now what peerless once had been.
Upon thy form more wrinkles yet will fall,
And, coming down, shall make no noise at all.

63. CHEERFULNESS IN CHARITY; OR, THE SWEET

SACRIFICE.

'Tis not a thousand bullocks' thighs
Can please those heav'nly deities,
If the vower don't express

In his offering cheerfulness.

65. SWEETNESS IN SACRIFICE.

'Tis not greatness they require
To be offer'd up by fire;

But 'tis sweetness that doth please
Those Eternal Essences.

66. STEAM IN SACRIFICE.

IF meat the gods give, I the steam
High-towering will devote to them,
Whose easy natures like it well,
If we the roast have, they the smell.

Priceless, valueless

67. UPON JULIA'S VOICE.

So smooth, so sweet, so silv'ry is thy voice,
As, could they hear, the damn'd would make no noise,
But listen to thee, walking in thy chamber,
Melting melodious words to lutes of amber.

68. AGAIN.

WHEN I thy singing next shall hear,
I'll wish I might turn all to ear

To drink in notes and numbers such
As blessed souls can't hear too much;
Then melted down, there let me lie
Entranc'd and lost confusedly,
And, by thy music stricken mute,
Die and be turn'd into a lute.

69. ALL THINGS DECAY AND DIE.

All things decay with time: the forest sees
The growth and downfall of her aged trees;
That timber tall, which threescore lusters stood
The proud dictator of the state-like wood,-
I mean (the sovereign of all plants) the oak,—
Droops, dies, and falls without the cleaver's stroke.

Amber, used here merely for any rich material: cp. "Treading on amber with their silver feet".

Lusters, the Roman reckoning of five years.

70. THE SUCCESSION OF THE FOUR SWEET MONTHS.

FIRST, April, she with mellow showers
Opens the way for early flowers;
Then after her comes smiling May,
In a more rich and sweet array;
Next enters June, and brings us more
Gems than those two that went before:
Then (lastly) July comes, and she

More wealth brings in than all those three.

71. NO SHIPWRECK OF VIRTUE. TO A FRIEND. THOU Sail'st with others in this Argus here; Nor wreck or bulging thou hast cause to fear; But trust to this, my noble passenger; Who swims with virtue, he shall still be sure (Ulysses-like) all tempests to endure, And 'midst a thousand gulfs to be secure.

72. UPON HIS SISTER-IN-LAW, MISTRESS ELIZABETH

HERRICK.

FIRST, for effusions due unto the dead,

My solemn vows have here accomplished:

Next, how I love thee, that my grief must tell,
Wherein thou liv'st for ever. Dear, farewell.

Bulging, leaking.

Effusions, drink-offerings.

73. OF LOVE. A SONNET.

How love came in I do not know,
Whether by the eye, or ear, or no;
Or whether with the soul it came
(At first) infused with the same;
Whether in part 'tis here or there,
Or, like the soul, whole everywhere,
This troubles me: but I as well
As any other this can tell :

That when from hence she does depart
The outlet then is from the heart.

74. TO ANTHEA.

Aн, my Anthea! Must my heart still break ?
(Love makes me write, what shame forbids to speak.)
Give me a kiss, and to that kiss a score;

Then to that twenty add a hundred more:
A thousand to that hundred: so kiss on,

To make that thousand up a million.
Treble that million, and when that is done
Let's kiss afresh, as when we first begun.

But yet, though love likes well such scenes as these,
There is an act that will more fully please:

Kissing and glancing, soothing, all make way
But to the acting of this private play:
Name it I would; but, being blushing red,

The rest I'll speak when we meet both in bed.

75. THE ROCK OF RUBIES, AND THE QUARRY OF PEARLS.

SOME ask'd me where the rubies grew,

And nothing I did say:

But with my finger pointed to

The lips of Julia.

Some ask'd how pearls did grow, and where;

Then spoke I to my girl,

To part her lips, and show'd them there

The quarrelets of Pearl.

76. CONFORMITY.

CONFORMITY was ever known

A foe to dissolution:

Nor can we that a ruin call,

Whose crack gives crushing unto all.

77. TO THE KING, UPON HIS COMING WITH HIS ARMY INTO THE WEST.

WELCOME, most welcome to our vows and us,

Most great and universal genius!

The drooping West, which hitherto has stood
As one in long-lamented widowhood,
Looks like a bride now, or a bed of flowers
Newly refresh'd both by the sun and showers.
War, which before was horrid, now appears
Lovely in you, brave prince of cavaliers !
A deal of courage in each bosom springs
By your access, O you the best of kings!
Ride on with all white omens; so that where
Your standard's up, we fix a conquest there.
Quarrelets, little squares.