Secure repose, and never dream SONG. If the quick spirits in your eye Or, if that golden fleece must grow If those bright suns must know no shade, What still being gather'd still must grow. A PASTORAL DIALOGUE. SHEPHERD, NYMPH, CHORUS. Shep. This mossy bank they press'd. Nym. That aged oak Did canopy the happy pair All night from the damp air. Cho. Here let us sit, and sing the words they spoke, Shep. See, love, the blushes of the morn appear: (Robb'd from the eastern shore) VOL. I. S 273 I' th' cowslip's bell and rose's ear: Sweet, I must stay no longer here. Nym. Those streaks of doubtful light usher not day, Shall shine till thou return: The yellow planets, and the gray Dawn, shall attend thee on thy way. Shep. If thine eyes gild my paths, they may forbear Shep. Those drops will make their beams more clear, Cho. They kiss'd, and wept; and from their lips and Their joys and sorrows meet; But she cries out. Nym. Shepherd, arise, The sun betrays us else to spies. Shep. The winged hours fly fast whilst we embrace; But when we want their help to meet, They move with leaden feet. Nym. Then let us pinion time, and chase The day for ever from this place. Shep. Hark! Nym. Ah me, stay! Shep. For ever. We must be gone. Shep. My nest of spice. Nym. My soul. Shep. My paradise. eyes, Cho. Neither could say farewell, but through their eyes Grief interrupted speech with tears supplies. SONG. Ask me no more where Jove bestows, Ask me no more whither do stray Ask me no more whither doth haste Ask me no more, where those stars light, Ask me no more, if east or west SIR JOHN SUCKLING. THIS witty baronet was born in 1608. He was the son of the Comptroller of the Household of Charles I. He was uncommonly precocious; at five is said to have spoken Latin, and at sixteen had entered into the service of Gustavus Adolphus, 'the lion of the North, and the bulwark of the Protestant faith.' On his return to England, he was favoured by Charles, and became, in his turn, a most enthusiastic supporter of the Royal cause; writing plays for the amusement of the Court; and, when the Civil War broke out, raising, at his own expense of £1200, a regiment for the King, which is said to have been distinguished only by its 'finery and cowardice.' When the Earl of Strafford came into trouble, Suckling, along with some other cavaliers, intrigued for his deliverance, was impeached by the House of Commons, and had to flee to France. Here an early death awaited him. His servant having robbed him, he drew on, in vehement haste, his boots, to pursue the defaulter, when a rusty nail, or, some say, the blade of a knife, which was concealed in one of them, pierced his heel. A mortification ensued, and he died, in 1641, at thirty-three years of age. Suckling has written five plays, various poems, besides letters, speeches, and tracts, which have all been collected into one thin volume. They are of various merit; none, in fact, being worthy of print, or at least of preservation, except one or two of his songs, and his 'Ballad upon a Wedding.' This last is an admirable expression of what were his principal qualitiesnaïveté, sly humour, gay badinage, and a delicious vein of fancy, coming out occasionally by stealth, even as in his own exquisite lines about the bride, 'Her feet, beneath her petticoat, SONG. Why so pale and wan, fond lover! Will, when looking well can't move her, Prithee why so pale? Why so dull and mute, young sinner? Will, when speaking well can't win her, Prithee why so mute? Quit, quit for shame! this will not move, If of herself she will not love, The devil take her! A BALLAD UPON A WEDDING. 1 I tell thee, Dick, where I have been, 2 At Charing-Cross, hard by the way Where we (thou know'st) do sell our hay, There is a house with stairs: And there did I see coming down 3 Amongst the rest, one pest'lent fine, Our landlord looks like nothing to him: 4 At Course-a-park, without all doubt, By all the maids i' the town: |