THE INVITATION TO LOVE. List, my girl, with words I woo; Try, my girl, O try what bliss Young men render when they kiss! After daytime's heat from heaven After the white flower's bloom To the night their faint perfume Try, my girl, etc., da capo. The poem, Ludo cum Caecilia, which comes next in order, is one of the most perfect specimens of Goliardic writing. To render its fluent, languid, and yet airy grace, in any language but the Latin, is, I think, impossible. Who could have imagined that the subtlety, the refinement, almost the perversity of feeling expressed in it, should have been proper to a student of the twelfth century? The poem is spoiled toward its close by astrological and grammatical conceits; and the text is corrupt. That part I have omitted, together with some stanzas which offend a modern taste. PHYLLIS. No. 37. Think no evil, have no fear, I am but the guardian dear Of her girlhood's lilies, Lest too soon her bloom should swoon Like spring's daffodillies. All I care for is to play, Gaze upon my treasure, Now and then to touch her hand, Kiss in modest measure; But the fifth act of love's game, Dream not of that pleasure! For to touch the bloom of youth Hope within my heart doth glow Sweet above all sweets that are And the kisses that she gives Sweeter are than lilies. Love leads after him the gods Bound in pliant traces; Harsh and stubborn hearts he bends, Breaks with blows of maces; Nay, the unicorn is tamed By a girl's embraces. Love leads after him the gods, Jupiter with Juno; To his waxen measure treads Masterful Neptune O! Pluto stern to souls below Melts to this one tune O! Whatsoe'er the rest may do, Take the pastime that is due Up to this time, the happiness of love returned and satisfied has been portrayed. The following lyric exhibits a lover pining at a distance, soothing his soul with song, and indulging in visions of happiness beyond his grasp— εἰδώλοις κάλλους κώφα χλιαινόμενος, as Meleager phrased it on a similar oocasion. LOVE LONGINGS. No. 38. With song I seek my fate to cheer, As doth the swan when death draws near; My heart is worn with fond desire. Since care and woe increase and grow, while light burns low, Poor wretch I die! Heigho! I die, poor wretch I die! If she could love me whom I love, I would not then exchange with Jove: With death to meet, his welcome greet, from life retreat, I were full fain! Heigho! full fain, I were full fain, Could I such joy, such wealth of pleasure gain! When I bethought me of her breast, Longing to touch them with my hand, Rose of the south, blooms on her mouth; I felt That mouth to kiss! Heigho! to kiss, that mouth to kiss! Lost in day-dreams and vain desires of bliss. The next is the indignant repudiation by a lover of the calumny that he has proved unfaithful to his mistress. The strongly marked double rhymes of the original add peculiar vehemence to his protestations; while the abundance of cheap mythological allusions is emphatically Goliardic. THE LOVER'S VOW. No. 39. False the tongue and foul with slander, L |