THE NYMPH'S REPLY TO THE SHEPHERD.,

And we will sit upon the rocks,

And see the shepherds feed their flocks
By shallow rivers, to whose falls
Melodious birds sing madrigals.

And I will make thee beds of roses,
And a thousand fragrant posies,
A cap of flowers, and a kirtle
Embroidered all with leaves of myrtle;

A gown made of the finest wool,
Which from our pretty lambs we pull;
Fair lined slippers for the cold,
With buckles of the purest gold;

A belt of straw and ivy buds,
With coral clasps, and amber studs;
And if these pleasures may thee move,
Come live with me, and be my love.

The shepherd swains shall dance and sing,
For thy delight, each May morning;
If these delights thy mind may move,
Then live with me, and be my love.

THE NYMPH'S REPLY TO THE SHEPHERD. [ASCRIBED TO SIR WALTER RALEIGH.]

IF all the world and love were young,
And truth in every shepherd's tongue,
These pretty pleasures might me move
To live with thee, and be thy love.

THE NYMPH'S REPLY TO THE SHEPHERD.

But time drives flocks from field to fold, When rivers rage, and rocks grow cold; And Philomel becometh dumb;

The rest complain of cares to come.

The flowers do fade, and wanton fields
To wayward winter reckoning yields;
A honey tongue, a heart of gall,

Is fancy's spring, but sorrow's fall.

Thy gowns, thy shoes, thy beds of roses,
Thy cap, thy kirtle, and thy posies,
Soon break, soon wither, soon forgotten,
In folly ripe, in reason rotten.

Thy belt of straw and ivy buds,
Thy coral clasps and amber studs,
All these in me no means can move
To come to thee, and be thy love.

But could youth last, and love still breed,
Had joys no date, nor age no need;
Then these delights my mind might move,
To live with thee, and be thy love.

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE.

1564-1616.

CRABBED AGE AND YOUTH.

CRABBED age and youth

Cannot live together; Youth is full of pleasance, Age is full of care; Youth like summer morn,

Age like winter weather; Youth like summer brave, Age like winter bare. Youth is full of sport,

Age's breath is short,

Youth is nimble, age is lame:

Youth is hot and bold,

Age is weak and cold;

Youth is wild, and age is tame.

Age, I do abhor thee,

Youth, I do adore thee;

O, my love, my love is young! Age, I do defy thee;

O sweet shepherd, hie thee,

For methinks thou stay'st too long!

SONG OF THE FAIRY.

OVER hill, over dale,

Thorough bush, thorough brier,

Over park, over pale,

Thorough flood, thorough fire,

SONG.

I do wander everywhere,
Swifter than the moon's sphere;
And I serve the fairy queen,
To dew her orbs upon the green;
The cowslips tall her pensioners be;
In their gold coats spots you see,
These be rubies, fairy favours,

In those freckles live their savours:
I must go seek some dewdrops here,
And hang a pearl in every cowslip's ear.

SONG.

ON a day, (alack the day!)

Love, whose month was ever May,

Spied a blossom passing fair,
Playing in the wanton air:

Through the velvet leaves the wind,

All unseen, 'gan passage find;

That the lover, sick to death,

Wished himself the heaven's breath.

"Air," quoth he, "thy cheeks may blow;

Air, would I might triumph so!

But, alas! my hand hath sworn

Ne'er to pluck thee from thy thorn:

Vow, alack, for youth unmeet;

Youth, so apt to pluck a sweet.

Do not call it sin in me,

That I am forsworn for thee;

Thou for whom Jove would swear

Juno but an Ethiope were;
And deny himself for Jove,
Turning mortal for thy love."

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE.

STANZAS.

BEAUTY is but a vain and doubtful good,
A shining gloss, that fadeth suddenly;

A flower that dies, when first it 'gins to bud;
A brittle glass, that's broken presently:

A doubtful good, a gloss, a glass, a flower,
Lost, faded, broken, dead within an hour.

And as goods lost are seld or never found,
As faded gloss no rubbing will refresh,
As flowers dead lie withered on the ground,
As broken glass no cement can redress,

So beauty, blemished once, for ever's lost,
In spite of physic, painting, pain, and cost.

SONNET.

WHEN I do count the clock that tells the time,
And see the brave day sunk in hideous night;
When I behold the violet past prime,

And sable curls all silvered o'er with white;

When lofty trees I see barren of leaves,
Which erst from heat did canopy the herd;
And summer's green all girded up in sheaves,
Borne on the bier with white and bristly beard:-
Then of thy beauty do I question make,
That thou among the wastes of time must go,
Since sweets and beauties do themselves forsake,
And die as fast as they see others grow;

And nothing 'gainst time's scythe can make defence,
Save breed, to brave him when he takes thee hence.