XVIII SONNET. Like as a huntsman after weary chace, XIX Edmund Spenser. A VISION UPON THE FAIRY QUEEN. Methought I saw the grave where Laura lay, Within that temple where the vestal flame Was wont to burn; and passing by that way To see that buried dust of living fame, Whose tomb fair Love and fairer Virtue kept, All suddenly I saw The Fairy Queen : At whose approach the soul of Petrarch wept ; And from thenceforth those Graces were not seen, For they this Queen attended; in whose stead Oblivion laid him down on Laura's hearse. Hereat the hardest stones were seen to bleed, And groans of buried ghosts the heavens did pierce, Where Homer's spright did tremble all for grief, And cursed the accéss of that celestial thief. Sir Walter Raleigh. 5 IO 5 XX THE PASSIONATE SHEPHERD TO HIS LOVE. Come live with me, and be my love, And we will sit upon the rocks, And I will make thee beds of roses, A gown made of the finest wool, A belt of straw and ivy-buds, Thy silver dishes for thy meat, Prepared each day for thee and me. The shepherd swains shall dance and sing Christopher Marlowe. 5 IO 15 20 25 XXI THE ANSWER. If all the world and Love were young, Time drives the flocks from field to fold, The flowers do fade, and wanton fields Thy gowns, thy shoes, thy bed of roses, 15 Thy belt of straw and ivy-buds, What should we talk of dainties then, Which God hath blessed and sent for food. 20 But could youth last, and love still breed, 25 Then those delights my mind might move, Anon. XXII SAMELA. Like to Diana in her summer weed, Girt with a crimson robe of brightest dye, Whiter than be the flocks that straggling feed, As fair Aurora in her morning grey, Like lovely Thetis on a calmèd day, Whenas her brightness Neptune's fancy move, Shines fair Samela ; Her tresses gold, her eyes like glassy streams, Of fair Samela ; Her cheeks like rose and lily yield forth gleams, Thus fair Samela Passeth fair Venus in her bravest hue, For she's Samela: Pallas in wit, all three, if you will view, Yield to Samela. XXIII Robert Greene. SILENT MUSIC. Rose-cheeked Laura, come! Sing thou smoothly with thy beauty's Silent music, either other Sweetly gracing. Lovely forms do flow From concent divinely framed ; Heaven is music, and thy beauty's Birth is heavenly. These dull notes we sing Discords need for helps to grace them; Only beauty purely loving Knows no discord; But still moves delight, Like clear springs renewed by flowing, Ever perfect, ever in them Selves eternal. Thomas Campion. XXIV TRIUMPH OF CHARIS. See the chariot at hand here of Love, Wherein my lady rideth! Each that draws is a swan or a dove, As she goes, all hearts do duty Unto her beauty, And enamoured do wish, so they might But enjoy such a sight, That they still were to run by her side, 5 Through swords, through seas, whither she would ride. 10 Do but look on her eyes, they do light Than words that soothe her! 15 |