What if I beat the wanton boy With many a rod? He will repay me with annoy, Then sit thou safely on my knee, Spare not, but play thee. -THOM. LODGE (1558?-1625) THE HERDMAN'S HAPPY LIFE What pleasure have great princes And fortune's fate not fearing, Their dealings plain and rightful, Are void of all deceit; They never know how spiteful It is to kneel and wait On favourite presumptuous, Whose pride is vain and sumptuous. All day their flocks each tendeth, At night they take their rest, More quiet than who sendeth His ship into the east, Where gold and pearl are plenty, But getting very dainty. For lawyers and their pleading, They 'steem it not a straw; They think that honest meaning, Is of itself a law; Where conscience judgeth plainly, They spend no money vainly. Oh, happy who thus liveth! Not caring much for gold; With clothing which sufficeth, To keep him from the cold. Though poor and plain his diet, Yet merry it is and quiet. - OUT OF M. BIRD'S SET SONGS And we will sit upon the rocks, Seeing the shepherds feed their flocks, By shallow rivers, to whose falls Melodious birds sings madrigals. And I will make thee beds of roses, And a thousand fragrant posies, 36 A cap of flowers and a kirtle Embroider'd all with leaves of myrtle: 12 12 18 24 A gown made of the finest wool, A belt of straw and ivy buds, The shepherd swains shall dance and sing THE NYMPH'S REPLY TO THE If all the world and love were young, Time drives the flocks from field to fold, The flowers do fade, and wanton fields 16 20 24 12 THE PASSIONATE SHEPHERD TO HIS LOVE Come live with me and be my love, And we will all the pleasures prove, That valleys, groves, hills, and fields, Woods, or steepy mountains yields. But could youth last, and love still breed, 20 24 IGNOTO |