can be no doubt, however, from the allusions of the Prologues and Commendatory Verses, that Fletcher had by far the larger share in the plays; and, if such a conjecture may be hazarded upon internal evidence, the bulk of the songs may be ascribed to him also. They are full of that luxuriance and beauty which distinguish the pieces known to have been written by him separately.]

I

THE MAID'S TRAGEDY.

LA

CONSTANCY.

AY a garland on my hearse
Of the dismal yew;

Maidens, willow branches bear;
Say, I died true.

My love was false, but I was firm
From my hour of birth.
Upon my buried body lie
Lightly, gentle earth!

FICKLENESS.

COULD never have the power
To love one above an hour,

But my head would prompt mine eye
On some other man to fly.

Venus, fix thou mine eyes fast,

Or if not, give me all that I shall see at last.

Rather like a perfume dwells;
Where the violet and the rose
Their blue veins in blush disclose,
And came to honour nothing else.

* Ascribed to Fletcher.

Where to live near,

And planted there,

Is to live, and still live new;
Where to gain a favour is

More than light, perpetual bliss,—
Make me live by serving you.

Dear, again back recall
To this light,

A stranger to himself and all;
Both the wonder and the story
Shall be yours, and eke the glory:
your thrall.

I am your servant, and

THE SPANISH CURATE.*

SPEAK, LOVE!+

EAREST, do not delay me,

ᎠᎬ

Since, thou knowest, I must be gone;
Wind and tide, 'tis thought, doth stay me,
But 'tis wind that must be blown

From that breath, whose native smell
Indian odours far excel.

Oh, then speak, thou fairest fair!

Kill not him that vows to serve thee;
But perfume this neighbouring air,‡

Else dull silence, sure, will starve me:
'Tis a word that's quickly spoken,

Which, being restrained, a heart is broken.

* By Fletcher.

This song, and that which immediately follows, not having appeared in the original edition of the Spanish Curate, were removed from the text by Mr. Colman. The authorship is, of course, doubtful; but the stage directions in the places in which they were inserted indicate that some songs were intended to be introduced by the authors; and, to whatever hand we are indebted for these, they are entitled to preservation in this collection.

This looks either like the authorship of Fletcher, or an intentional

COUNTRY FEASTING.

LET the bells ring, and let the boys sing,

The young lasses skip and play;

Let the cups go round, 'till round goes the ground;
Our learned old vicar will stay.

Let the pig turn merrily, merrily, ah!
And let the fat goose swim;

For verily, verily, verily, ah!

Our vicar this day shall be trim.*

The stewed cock shall crow, cock-a-loodle-loo,
A loud cock-a-loodle shall he crow;

The duck and the drake shall swim in a lake
Of onions and claret below.

Our wives shall be neat, to bring in our meat
To thee our most noble adviser;

Our pains shall be great, and bottles shall sweat,
And we ourselves will be wiser.

We'll labour and swink,† we'll kiss and we'll drink, And tithes shall come thicker and thicker; We'll fall to our plough, and get children enow, And thou shalt be learnèd old vicar.

imitation. A similar passage occurs in a preceding song:

* Dibdin appears to have founded the burthen of a song in the Quaker on this verse:

'When the lads of the village shall merrily, ah,

Sound the tabors, I'll hand thee along;

And I say unto thee, that verily, ah!

Thou and I will be first in the throng.'

To work hard.

WIT WITHOUT MONEY.

TAKE ME WHILE I'M IN THE VEIN.

THE

HE fit's upon me now,
The fit's upon me now!
Come quickly, gentle lady,
The fit's upon me now!

The world shall soon know they're fools,
And so shalt thou do too;

Let the cobbler meddle with his tools,
The fit's upon me now!

BEGGARS' BUSH.*

THE KING OF THE BEGGARS.

CAST

AST our caps and cares away:
This is beggar's holiday!

At the crowning of our king,
Thus we ever dance and sing.
In the world look out and see,
Where's so happy a prince as he?
Where the nation lives so free,
And so merry as do we?
Be it peace, or be it war,
Here at liberty we are,

And enjoy our ease and rest:
To the field we are not pressed;
Nor are called into the town,
To be troubled with the gown.
Hang all offices, we cry,
And the magistrate too, by!
When the subsidy's encreased,
We are not a penny sessed;

* Ascribed to Fletcher.

THE DRAMATISTS.

9

Nor will any go to law
With the beggar for a straw.
All which happiness, he brags,
He doth owe unto his rags.

THE HUMOROUS LIEUTENANT.*

THE LOVE PHILTER.

RISE from the shades below,

you that prove

The helps of loose love!
Rise, and bestow

Upon this cup whatever may compel,
By powerful charm and unresisted spell,
A heart unwarmed to melt in love's desires!
Distil into liquor all your fires;
Heats, longings, tears;

But keep back frozen fears;

That she may know, that has all power defied,
Art is a power that will not be denied.

THE FAITHFUL SHEPHERDESS.†

THE SATYR.

HROUGH yon same bending plain

THE

That flings his arms down to the main,
And through these thick woods,§ have I run,
Whose bottom never kissed the sun

* Also ascribed to Fletcher by the writers of the commendatory verses, and confirmed by the authority of a MS. referred to by Mr. Dyce.

The sole production of Fletcher.

The lyrical character of this soliloquy of the Satyr, and of two or three similar pieces extracted from the same pastoral comedy, may be allowed to justify their insertion in this volume, if their beauty stand in need of any plea for their admission.

§ Mr. Seward traces an imitation of Shakespeare's Midsummer