And did already understand
The language of her eyes:

Proceeded on with no less art;
(My tongue was engineer ;)
I thought to undermine the heart,
By whispering in the ear.

When this did nothing, I brought down
Great cannon oaths, and shot
A thousand thousand to the town,
And still it yielded not.

I then resolv'd to starve the place,
By cutting off all kisses;
Praising and gazing on her face,
And all such little blisses.

To draw her out and from her strength,

I drew all batteries in ;

And brought myself to lie, at length,

As if no siege had been.

When I had done what man could do,

And thought the place mine own,

The enemy lay quiet too,

And smil'd at all was done,

I sent to know, from whence, and where,
These hopes and this relief?

A spy inform'd, honour was there,

And did command in chief.

March, march (quoth I); the word straight give,

Let's lose no time, but leave her;

That giant upon air will live,

And hold it out for ever.

To such a place our camp remove
As will no siege abide;

I hate a fool that starves her love,
Only to feed her pride.

A BALLAD UPON A WEDDING.

I TELL thee, Dick, where I have been,
Where I the rarest things have seen;
Oh! things beyond compare!
Such sights again cannot be found
In any place on English ground,

Be it at wake or fair.

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
Such folk as are not in our town,
Forty at least, in pairs.

Among the rest, one pest'lent fine,
(His beard no bigger though than thine)
Walk'd on before the rest:

Our landlord looks like nothing to him;
The king, (God bless him!) 'twould undo him,
Should he go still so dress'd.

At course-a-park, without all doubt,
He should have first been taken out
By all the maids i' th' town;
Though lusty Roger there had been,
Or little George upon the green,

Or Vincent of the Crown.

But wot you what? the youth was going
To make an end of all his wooing;
The parson for him staid:

Yet by his leave (for all his haste)
He did not so much wish all past

(Perchance) as did the maid.

The maid, (and thereby hangs a tale:
For such a maid no Whitsun ale
Could ever yet produce)

No grape that's kindly ripe could be

So round, so plump, so soft as she,
Nor half so full of juice.

Her finger was so small, the ring
Would not stay on, which they did bring;
It was too wide a peck :

And to say truth, for out it must,
It look'd like the great collar (just)
About our young colt's neck.

Her feet beneath her petticoat,
Like little mice, stole in and out,

As if they fear'd the light:
But oh! she dances such a way—

No sun upon an Easter day

Is half so fine a sight!

He would have kiss'd her once or twice,

But she would not, she was so nice,

She would not do 't in sight:

And then she look'd as who should say, I will do what I list to-day,

And you shall do 't at night.

Her cheeks so rare a white was on,

No daisy makes comparison,

(Who sees them is undone)

For streaks of red were mingled there,

Such as are on a catherine

pear
(The side that's next the sun).

Her lips were red, and one was thin,
Compar'd to that was next her chin
(Some bee had stung it newly);
But, Dick, her eyes so guard her face,
I durst no more upon them gaze
Than on the sun in July.

Her mouth so small when she does speak,

Thou'dst swear her teeth her words did break,

That they might passage get;

But she so handled still the matter,

They came as good as ours, or better,
And are not spent a whit.

If wishing should be any sin,

The

parson himself had guilty been (She look'd that day so purely); And did the youth so oft the feat At night, as some did in conceit,

It would have spoil'd him surely.