XII. SIR WALTER RALEIGH TO HIS SON.1 康 HREE things there be that prosper all apace, And flourish while they are asunder far; But on a day, they meet all in a place, And when they meet, they one another mar. And they be these; the Wood, the Weed, the Wag: The Wood is that that makes the gallows tree; The Weed is that that strings the hangman's bag; The Wag, my pretty knave, betokens thee. Now mark, dear boy-while these assemble not, Green springs the tree, hemp grows, the wag is wild; But when they meet, it makes the timber rot, GOD BLESS THE CHILD! ' MS. Malone 19, p. 130. XIII. ON THE CARDS AND DICE.' EFORE the sixth day of the next new year, Strange wonders in this kingdom shall appear: Four kings shall be assembled in this isle, By day or night this tumult shall not cease, ST WAL. R. MS. Malone 19, p. 45. Also ascribed to Raleigh in the Catalogue of Oxford MSS. among those of c. c. c. XIV. THE SILENT LOVER.1 ASSIONS are likened best to floods and streams: The shallow murmur, but the deep So, when affections yield discourse, it seems Wrong not, sweet empress of my heart, With thinking that he feels no smart, Since, if my plaints serve not to approve It comes not from defect of love, But from excess of duty. 1 Signed as below in a MS. formerly belonging to the late Mr. Pickering. The text of the Oxford edition, viii. 716, is corrected from a Rawl. MS. where the piece is absurdly headed "Sir Walter Raleigh to Queen Elizabeth." Also assigned to Raleigh in the Lansdowne MS. of some of W. Browne's Poems (Brydges, Preface to Browne's Poems, L. P. 1815, p. 6). In other old copies entitled "To his Mistress, by Sir Walter Raleigh;" see "Wit's Interpreter," 1671, p. 146; another copy on p. 173 is anonymous. The title given above is from Oldys, p. lv. and the editions of Raleigh's Works. The piece has been claimed on inferior evidence for Lord Pembroke,Sir R. Aytoun, and Lord Walden. For, knowing that I sue to serve I rather choose to want relief Thus those desires that aim too high When reason cannot make them die, Yet, when discretion doth bereave Silence in love bewrays more woe Then wrong not, dearest to my heart, Sr W. R. XV. A POESY TO PROVE AFFECTION IS NOT LOVE.1 (Before 1602.) CONCEIT, begotten by the eyes, For many things the eyes approve, For as the seeds in spring time sown Desire himself runs out of breath, 'Davison's "Poetical Rhapsody," 1602-1621. |