The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Vers de Société Anthology, by Various This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. Title: A Vers de Société Anthology Author: Various Release Date: January 24, 2015 [EBook #48059] Language: English Character set encoding: UTF-8 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A VERS DE SOCIÉTÉ ANTHOLOGY *** Produced by Chris Curnow< Emmy and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net cover A VERS DE SOCIÉTÉ ANTHOLOGY “I’M a florist in verse, and what would people say If I came to a banquet without my bouquet?” Oliver Wendell Holmes. [i][ii] [iii] title page A Vers de Société Anthology Collected by Carolyn Wells New York Charles Scribner’s Sons 1907 COPYRIGHT 1907 BY CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS ———— Published November, 1907 [iv] NOTE ACKNOWLEDGMENT is hereby gratefully made to the publishers for permission to use poems by the following authors: To Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin and Company for poems by Thomas Bailey Aldrich, Oliver Wendell Holmes, James Russell Lowell, John Greenleaf Whittier, Bret Harte, John G. Saxe, Norah Perry, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, James T. Field, Edith Thomas, Edmund Clarence Stedman and Charles Henry Webb. To Messrs. Dodd, Mead and Company for poems by Austin Dobson. To the Macmillan Company for poems by Lewis Carroll. To Messrs. D. Appleton and Company for “Song,” by William Cullen Bryant. To The Century Company for poems by Robert Underwood Johnson and Mary Mapes Dodge. To Messrs. Little, Brown and Company for “A Valentine,” by Mrs. Laura E. Richards, and “Shadows” and “Les Papillottes,” by Gertrude Hall. To Messrs. G. P. Putnam’s Sons for “The Debutante,” by Guy Wetmore Carryl. To The Frederick A. Stokes Company for poems by Frank Dempster Sherman and Samuel Minturn Peck. To The Lothrop, Lee and Shepard Company for poems by Sam Walter Foss. To Messrs. E. H. Bacon and Company for poems by James Jeffrey Roche. CONTENTS PAGE Introduction xix To Celia Ben Jonson 3 Cupid Ben Jonson 4 Rosalind’s Madrigal Thomas Lodge 5 All Things Except Myself I Know François Villon 6 Cupid and Campaspe John Lilly 8 A Ditty Sir Philip Sydney 8 Song from “Twelfth Night” William Shakespeare 9 Sigh No More (from “Much Ado About Nothing”) William Shakespeare 9 Phillida and Corydon Nicholas Breton 10 Cherry-Ripe Richard Allison 11 Send Back My Long-Stray’d Eyes to Me John Donne 12 Pack Clouds Away Thomas Heywood 13 Shall I, Wasting in Despair George Wither 14 To the Virgins to Make Much of Time Robert Herrick 15 The Bracelet Robert Herrick 16 An Old Rhyme Anonymous 17 Love Me Not for Comely Grace Anonymous 17 On a Girdle Edmund Waller 18 To My Love Sir John Suckling 18 To Althea (From Prison) Richard Lovelace 19 Song Sir Charles Sedley 21 The Despairing Lover William Walsh 22 Cupid Mistaken Matthew Prior 23 The Contrast Charles Morris 24 Oh, Tell Me How to Woo Thee Robert Graham 27 Song from “The Duenna” Richard Brinsley Sheridan 28 The Races George Ellis 29 To Lady Anne Hamilton Hon. William R. Spencer 32 To Mrs. Leigh Upon Her Wedding Day George Canning 33 [v] [vi] [vii] [viii] Names Samuel T. Coleridge 34 The Exchange Samuel T. Coleridge 34 Defiance Walter Savage Landor 35 Her Lips Walter Savage Landor 35 Commination Walter Savage Landor 36 Margaret and Dora Thomas Campbell 36 A Certain Young Lady Washington Irving 37 Song John Shaw 38 The Time I’ve Lost in Wooing Thomas Moore 39 When I Loved You Thomas Moore 40 Reason, Folly and Beauty Thomas Moore 41 Tiresome Spring! Béranger 42 Rosette Béranger 43 She Is So Pretty Béranger 44 Rondeau Leigh Hunt 45 Stolen Fruit Leigh Hunt 45 Love and Age Thomas L. Peacock 46 Clubs Theodore Hook 48 To Anne William Maxwell 51 Song William Cullen Bryant 51 What Is London’s Last New Lion? Thomas Haynes Bayly 53 I’d Be a Butterfly Thomas Haynes Bayly 54 I Must Come Out Next Spring Thomas Haynes Bayly 55 Why Don’t the Men Propose? Thomas Haynes Bayly 57 Ask and Have Samuel Lover 59 Lines in a Young Lady’s Album Thomas Hood 60 The Time of Roses Thomas Hood 62 Love Thomas Hood 63 To Helen Winthrop Mackworth Praed 64 The Belle of the Ball-Room Winthrop Mackworth Praed 64 Amy’s Cruelty Elizabeth Barrett Browning 68 Beware! Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 70 Love in a Cottage Nathaniel Parker Willis 71 Because Edward Fitzgerald 73 Lilian Alfred Tennyson 75 The Henchman John Greenleaf Whittier 76 Dorothy Q. A Family Portrait Oliver Wendell Holmes 78 A Reminiscence James Freeman Clarke 81 The Age of Wisdom William Makepeace Thackeray 82 The Ballad of Bouillabaisse William Makepeace Thackeray 83 An Invitation Théophile Gautier 86 Fanny; or, The Beauty and the Bee Charles Mackay 88 Garden Fancies The Flower’s Name Robert Browning 89 A Poem of Every Day Life Albert Riddle 91 Love Disposed Of Robert Traill Spence Lowell 93 Mabel, in New Hampshire James Thomas Fields 94 The Coquette A Portrait John Godfrey Saxe 96 Justine, You Love Me Not! John Godfrey Saxe 98 Sing Heigh-Ho! Charles Kingsley 99 Snowdrop William Wetmore Story 100 The Protest. James Russell Lowell 101 Scherzo James Russell Lowell 101 The Handsomest Man in the Room William Macquorn Rankine 102 The Lawyer’s Invocation to Spring Henry Howard Brownell 104 A Terrible Infant Frederick Locker-Lampson 105 Loulou and Her Cat Frederick Locker-Lampson 106 Piccadilly Frederick Locker-Lampson 107 A Word that Makes Us Linger Frederick Locker-Lampson 109 [ix] [x] My Mistress’s Boots Frederick Locker-Lampson 110 A Nice Correspondent! Frederick Locker-Lampson 112 There’s a Time to Be Jolly Charles Godfrey Leland 114 I Remember, I Remember Phoebe Cary 115 The Flower of Love Lies Bleeding Richard Henry Stoddard 116 The Gold Room. An Idyl Bayard Taylor 118 Comfort Mortimer Collins 119 A Summer Song Mortimer Collins 120 My Aunt’s Spectre Mortimer Collins 121 A Conceit Mortimer Collins 122 Martial in London Mortimer Collins 123 The Best of the Ball William Sawyer 123 The Ballad of Dead Ladies (Translation from François Villon, 1450) Dante Gabriel Rossetti 125 Feminine Arithmetic Charles Graham Halpine 127 A Trifle Henry Timrod 128 Flight Charles S. Calverley 129 Love Charles S. Calverley 132 Since We Parted Owen Meredith 134 A Kiss—By Mistake Joel Benton 134 A Game of Fives Lewis Carroll 135 A Valentine Lewis Carroll 137 The Wedding Day Edmund Clarence Stedman 139 Edged Tools Edmund Clarence Stedman 140 Witchcraft Edmund Clarence Stedman 142 Toujours Amour Edmund Clarence Stedman 143 Dictum Sapienti Charles Henry Webb 144 Undowered Harriet McEwen Kimball 145 The Love-Knot Nora Perry 146 Vers de Société H. D. Traill 147 A Letter of Advice Thomas Hood, Jr. 149 At the Lattice Alfred Austin 151 French with a Master Theodore Tilton 152 On an Intaglio Head of Minerva Thomas Bailey Aldrich 154 The Lunch Thomas Bailey Aldrich 155 The Witch in the Glass Sarah Morgan Bryan Piatt 156 To Phoebe William Schwenck Gilbert 156 My Love and My Heart Henry S. Leigh 157 To a Country Cousin Henry S. Leigh 158 The Family Fool William Schwenck Gilbert 160 An Interlude Algernon Charles Swinburne 162 A Match Algernon Charles Swinburne 165 Caprice William Dean Howells 167 The Minuet Mary Mapes Dodge 168 A Street Sketch J. Ashby-Sterry 170 Saint May: A City Lyric J. Ashby-Sterry 171 Pet’s Punishment J. Ashby-Sterry 173 Her Letter Francis Bret Harte 174 Avice Austin Dobson 177 A Song of the Four Seasons Austin Dobson 179 In Town Austin Dobson 181 When I Saw You Last, Rose Austin Dobson 183 To “Lydia Languish” Austin Dobson 184 The Old Sedan Chair Austin Dobson 186 “Le Roman de la Rose” Austin Dobson 188 Ninety-nine in the Shade Rossiter Johnson 190 Brighton Pier Clement Scott 191 A Contradiction Clement Scott 192 [xi] [xii] Rondel John Payne 194 White, Pillared Neck Richard Watson Gilder 194 Janet Richard Watson Gilder 195 For a Fan Richard Watson Gilder 196 Ballade of Summer Andrew Lang 196 Colinette Andrew Lang 198 Ballade of Dead Ladies (After Villon) Andrew Lang 199 Il Bacio Paul Verlaine 200 Sur l’Herbe Paul Verlaine 201 The Romance of a Glove H. Savile Clarke 202 If James Jeffrey Roche 203 “Don’t” James Jeffrey Roche 204 On Rereading Télémaque James Jeffrey Roche 205 Valentine James Jeffrey Roche 206 Biftek aux Champignons Henry Augustin Beers 206 An Explanation Walter Learned 209 Marjorie’s Kisses Walter Learned 209 Miss Nancy’s Gown Zitella Cocke 210 “Le Dernier Jour d’un Condamné” George A. Baker 212 My Wooing Edwin Hamilton 213 Wintry Paris Anonymous 215 The Rose Anonymous 216 Indecision Anonymous 217 Logic Anonymous 218 Conversational Anonymous 219 If You Want a Kiss, Why, Take It Anonymous 220 Educational Courtship Anonymous 221 Kissing’s No Sin Anonymous 223 The Best Thing in the World Anonymous 223 Her Neighbours Anonymous 224 To Celia E. H. Lacon Watson 225 In For It Somerville Gibney 225 Kirtle Red W. H. Bellamy 227 A Bagatelle James G. Burnett 228 A Love Test Carl Herlozssohn 229 The Mistaken Moth Translated from Wegener 229 My Pretty Neighbor Translated from Wegener 230 If H. C. Dodge 231 To Mistress Pyrrha Eugene Field 232 The Tea-Gown Eugene Field 232 A Paraphrase Eugene Field 234 A Leap-Year Episode Eugene Field 236 Ballade of Ladies’ Names W. E. Henley 236 Ballade of June W. E. Henley 237 Ballade Made in the Hot Weather W. E. Henley 238 A Rose Arlo Bates 240 To Minnie (With a Hand Glass) Robert Louis Stevenson 241 An American Girl Brander Matthews 241 Larks and Nightingales Nathan Haskell Dole 242 Caeli Francis William Bourdillon 244 Lady Mine Herbert Edwin Clarke 244 The Ripest Peach James Whitcomb Riley 245 “I Journeyed South to Meet the Spring” Robert Underwood Johnson 246 Before the Blossom Robert Underwood Johnson 246 Love in the Calendar Robert Underwood Johnson 247 My Grandmother’s Turkey-Tail Fan Samuel Minturn Peck 249 Valentine Edith Matilda Thomas 250 A Valentine Laura Elizabeth Richards 251 On a Hymn Book W. J. Henderson 252 [xiii] [xiv] The Ballade of the Summer-Boarder H. C. Bunner 254 Interesting H. C. Bunner 256 The Way to Arcady H. C. Bunner 257 Da Capo H. C. Bunner 260 The Maid of Murray Hill H. C. Bunner 262 Kitty’s Summering H. C. Bunner 264 Forfeits H. C. Bunner 265 When Will Love Come? Pakenham Beatty 266 Heliotrope Harry Thurston Peck 266 Borderland Herman Knickerbocker Vielé 269 Epithalamium E. S. Martin 270 Infirm E. S. Martin 273 Words, Words, Words Margaret Deland 273 The Bluebell Margaret Deland 274 A Modern Martyrdom Sam Walter Foss 275 A Corsage Bouquet Charles Henry Lüders 277 The Ballad of Cassandra Brown Helen Gray Cone 278 From Three Fly Leaves J. K. Stephen 280 Question and Answer J. K. Stephen 281 A Rhyme for Priscilla Frank Dempster Sherman 283 The Old Collector Beatrice Hanscom 285 The Last Ditch E. Nesbit 288 Be Ye in Love with April-Tide Clinton Scollard 289 Strawberries Clinton Scollard 290 Applied Astronomy Esther B. Tiffany 291 Courtship Frederick Langbridge 292 Eyes of Black and Eyes of Blue (from the Viceroy) Harry B. Smith 293 Her Faults (from The Mandarin) Harry B. Smith 295 A Modern Dialogue Oliver Herford 296 The Poet’s Proposal Oliver Herford 299 Truth Oliver Herford 299 The Bachelor Girl Oliver Herford 300 The Sea Eva L. Ogden 301 In Philistia Bliss Carman 302 Between the Showers Amy Levy 304 Grace’s Choice Charles Battell Loomis 305 To Violet. With a Bunch of Namesakes Robert Cameron Rogers 306 Her Bonnet Mary E. Wilkins 307 A Song Norman R. Gale 308 Les Papillottes Gertrude Hall 309 Upon Graciosa, Walking and Talking A. T. Quiller-Couch 311 Her Valentine Richard Hovey 311 Story of the Gate Harrison Robertson 314 Two Triolets Harrison Robertson 316 A Ballade of Old Sweethearts Richard Le Gallienne 317 Amour de Voyage Rudyard Kipling 318 The Lover’s Litany Rudyard Kipling 319 A Lenten Call Hilda Johnson Wise 321 Helen’s Face a Book Gelett Burgess 322 The Butterfly’s Madrigal Gelett Burgess 323 Ballade of the Devil-May-Care Gelett Burgess 323 Ballade of Dreams Transposed Gelett Burgess 325 Villanelle of His Lady’s Treasures Ernest Dowson 326 L’Envoi E. B. Reed 327 A Merry, Blue-Eyed Laddie Juliet Wilbur Tompkins 328 Dance Time Josephine Preston Peabody Marks 329 How Like a Woman Caroline and Alice Duer 330 [xv] [xvi] A Vignette Caroline Duer 331 Index of Titles 335 Index of Authors 347 INTRODUCTION ALL collectors of Vers de Société agree that there is no possibility of an English equivalent for the French term. None exists; and the attempts to coin one have invariably resulted in failure. Society Verse, Familiar Verse and Occasional Verse are all wide of the mark in one direction or another; and perhaps, after all, the simple term Light Verse strikes nearest home. One might suggest Gentle Verse, but it would be with the restricted meaning of the adjective that is applied to the courteous and well-bred; the innately fine, polished by the experience and sophistication of truly good society. Gentlefolk are never excessive. Their enthusiasms are modified, their emotions are restrained, their humor is delicate. As a result of wise and intelligent culture, their tastes are refined, their fashions correct. They breathe the air of polite worldly wisdom, which endows them with a gracious ease, and removes all trace of self-consciousness. D’Israeli says, “Genius is not always sufficient to impart that grace of amenity which seems peculiar to those who are accustomed to elegant society.” Gentle Verse then, would imply lines written of the gentlefolk, for the gentlefolk, and by gentlefolk. Society Verse is an inadequate term, because Society has come to include both the gentle folk and the others. Familiar Verse, though staunchly defended by one of our foremost men of letters, allows a latitude of informality that is too liberal for a precise equivalent. Occasional Verse is ambiguous, and Easy Verse, absurd. Lyra Elegantiarum is an adequate translation, but not into English. And none of the graceful titles yet chosen by our modern poets from “Brightsome Balladry” to “Lingerie de Poesie” has as yet fulfilled all requirements. Granting then that there is no perfect English translation of the French phrase, and accepting Vers de Société as our field, we are again confronted by great difficulties and embarrassments in defining its boundaries. One of the greatest masters of the art, Mr. Austin Dobson, gives us twelve definite rules for our guidance; but of these, only three refer to the matter of the poems, the others being advice as to manner. Though manner is equally important, yet the choice of matter for Vers de Société depends upon certain definite characteristics. But to limit these characteristics is to ask the question, “who shall decide when doctors disagree?” The scholarly gentlemen who have devoted special attention to the matter, advance conflicting opinions. Frederick Locker-Lampson, doubtless the greatest master of the art, both in a critical and creative way, allows wide latitude of discretion. But so infallible is his individual judgment and so unerring his taste, that it is with him, a case of “Know the Rules, and when to break them.” He asserts that “Vers de Société by no means need be confined to topics of conventional life.” Contradicting this, is the word of W. Davenport Adams, whose collection of “Songs of Society; from Anne to Victoria,” admirably supplements Mr. Locker-Lampson’s earlier collection. Mr. Adams tells us that “Vers de Société should be applied to the poetry of fashionable life alone; should be limited to the doings and sayings of the world of fashion, and should deal exclusively with such things as routs and balls, and dinners and receptions.” Our own American collector, Mr. Brander Matthews, inclines to Mr. Locker-Lampson’s views, and therefore prefers the term Familiar Verse, as allowing excursions outside of Vanity Fair; while Mr. Edmund Clarence Stedman again narrows the field by declaring in favor of “the more select order of society verse,” which he designates “Patrician Rhymes.” Indeed, authorities on the subject of Vers de Société seem somewhat in the position of the charming philosopher of [xvii] [xviii] [xix] [xx] [xxi] [xxii] Wonderland fame: “‘When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean— neither more nor less.’ “‘The question is,’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many different things.’ “‘The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, ‘Which is to be the master—that’s all.’” But though there is variance of opinion concerning the limits of the field, there is harmony of conviction regarding the intrinsic qualities of Vers de Société. Mr. Locker-Lampson directs us that it should be “short, graceful, refined, and fanciful, not seldom distinguished by chastened sentiment, and often playful. The tone should not be pitched high; it should be terse and idiomatic, and rather in the conversational key; the rhythm should be crisp and sparkling, and the rhyme frequent and never forced. The entire poem should be marked by tasteful moderation, high finish and completeness; for subordination to the rules of composition, and perfection of execution are of the utmost importance. “The qualities of brevity and buoyancy are absolutely essential. The poem may be tinctured with a well-bred philosophy, it may be whimsically sad, it may be gay and gallant, it may be playfully malicious or tenderly ironical, it may display lively banter, and it may be satirically facetious; it may even, considering it merely as a work of art, be pagan in its philosophy or trifling in its tone, but it must never be flat, or ponderous, or commonplace.” The remarks of Mr. W. Davenport Adams are much in the same line. He says, “There should be little or no enthusiasm: the Muse should not be over-earnest, nor need it by any means be over-flippant. It is essential to ‘Society verse’ that it should have the tincture of good-breeding;—that if it is lively, it should be so without being vulgar; and that if it is tender it should be so without being maudlin. Its great distinction should be ease—the entire absence of apparent effort—the presence of that playful spontaneity which proclaims the master.” Professor Brander Matthews, in his able essay on the subject, agrees in general to all these stipulations, and observes: “No doubt, Social verse should have polish, and finish, and the well-bred ease of the man of the world; but it ought also to carry, at least a suggestion of the more serious aspects of life. It should not be frothily frivolous or coldly cynical, any more than it should be broadly comic or boisterously funny. It is at liberty to hint at hidden tears, even when it seems to be wreathed in smiles. It has no right to parade mere cleverness; and it must shun all affectation as it must avoid all self-consciousness. It should appear to possess a colloquial carelessness which is ever shrinking from the commonplace and which has succeeded in concealing every trace of that labor of the literary artist by which alone it has attained their seemingly spontaneous perfection. . . . It must eschew not merely coarseness or vulgarity, but even free and hearty laughter; and it must refrain from dealing not only with the soul-plumbing abysses of the tragic, but even with the ground-swell of any sweeping emotion. It must keep on the crest of the wave, mid-way between the utter triviality of the murmuring shadows and the silent profundity of the depths that are dumb.” Mr. Edmund Clarence Stedman’s views coincide with those above quoted, and are thus briefly summed up: “In fine, the true kind is marked by humor, by spontaneity, joined with extreme elegance of finish, by the quality we call breeding,—above all, by lightness of touch.” These same authorities agree that not every poet may write Vers de Société. To quote Mr. Locker-Lampson: “The writer of Occasional verse, in order to be genuinely successful, must not only be something of a poet, but he must also be a man of the world, in the liberal sense of the expression; he must have associated throughout his life with the refined and cultivated members of his species, not merely as an idle bystander, but as a busy actor in the throng.” Mr. Adams corroborates this by saying: “Although a clever literary artist may so far throw himself into the position of a man of society as to be able to write very agreeable Society verse, yet few can hope to write the best and most genuine Vers de Société who are not, or have not at one time been, in some measure at any rate, inhabitants of ‘Society.’” As an instance, however, of the disagreement among the doctors, the following may be noted: Mortimer Collins, himself a writer of Vers de Société, declared that the lines by Ben Jonson, beginning, “Follow a shadow, it still flies you;” is the most perfect bit of society verse written in our language. And speaking of the same poem, Mr. W. Davenport Adams says, “I cannot bring myself to look upon Ben Jonson as a ‘society poet,’ or upon the verses in question as a [xxiii] [xxiv] [xxv] [xxvi] ‘society poem’ in the proper sense of the term—in the sense at least, in which I understand them.” So we see, that in a degree, at least, Vers de Société is, like Beauty, in the eye of the beholder. But a consensus of opinion seems to prove that the keynote of Vers de Société is lightness, both of theme and treatment. Yet though light, it must not be trashy. It is the lightness of beaten gold-leaf, not the lightness of chaff. It is valuable, not worthless. The spirit of the work depends on an instant perception and a fine appreciation of values, seen through the medium of a whimsical kindliness. Let this be expressed with perfect taste and skill, and with a courtly sense of humor, and the result may be classed among those immortal ephemeræ which we call Vers de Société. A Vers de Société Anthology TO CELIA DRINK to me only with thine eyes, And I will pledge with mine; Or leave a kiss but in the cup, And I’ll not ask for wine. The thirst, that from the soul doth rise, Doth ask a drink divine; But might I of Jove’s nectar sip, I would not change for thine. I sent thee, late, a rosy wreath, Not so much honoring thee, As giving it a hope that there It could not withered be. But thou thereon didst only breathe And sent’st it back to me; Since when it grows, and smells, I swear, Not of itself, but thee. Ben Jonson. CUPID BEAUTIES, have you seen this toy, Called love, a little boy, Almost naked, wanton, blind, Cruel now, and then as kind? If he be amongst ye, say! He is Venus’ runaway. He hath of marks about him plenty; Ye shall know him among twenty; All his body is a fire, And his breath a flame entire, That, being shot like lightning in, Wounds the heart, but not the skin. He doth bear a golden bow, And a quiver, hanging low, Full of arrows, that outbrave [xxvii] [1] [2] [3] [4] Dian’s shafts, where, if he have Any head more sharp than other, With that first he strikes his mother. Trust him not: his words, though sweet, Seldom with his heart do meet; All his practice is deceit, Every gift is but a bait; Not a kiss but poison bears, And most treason in his tears. If by these ye please to know him, Beauties, be not nice, but show him, Though ye had a will to hide him. Now, we hope, ye’ll not abide him, Since ye hear his falser play, And that he’s Venus’ runaway. Ben Jonson. ROSALIND’S MADRIGAL LOVE in my bosom like a bee Doth suck his sweet: Now with his wings he plays with me, Now with his feet. Within mine eyes he makes his nest, His bed amidst my tender breast: My kisses are his daily feast, And yet he robs me of my rest. Ah, wanton, will ye? And if I sleep, then percheth he With pretty flight, And makes his pillow of my knee The live-long night. Strike I my lute, he tunes the string, He music plays if so I sing, He lends me every lovely thing: Yet cruel he my heart doth sting: Whist, wanton, still ye! Else I with roses every day Will whip you hence: And bind you, when you long to play, For your offence. I’ll shut mine eyes to keep you in, I’ll make you fast it for your sin, I’ll count your power not worth a pin; Alas, what hereby shall I win, If he gainsay me? What if I beat the wanton boy With many a rod? He will repay me with annoy, Because a god. Then sit thou safely on my knee, And let thy bower my bosom be; Lurk in my eyes I like of thee: O, Cupid so thou pity me, Spare not, but play thee. Thomas Lodge. [5] [6] ALL THINGS EXCEPT MYSELF I KNOW I KNOW when milk does flies contain; I know men by their bravery; I know fair days from storm and rain; And what fruit apple-trees supply; And from their gums the trees descry; I know when all things smoothly flow; I know who toil or idle lie; All things except myself I know. I know the doublet by the grain; The monk beneath the hood can spy; Master from man can ascertain; I know the nun’s veiled modesty; I know when sportsmen fables ply; Know fools who scream and dainties stow; Wine from the butt I certify; All things except myself I know. Know horse from mule by tail and mane; I know their worth or high or low; Bell, Beatrice, I know the twain; I know each chance of cards and die; I know what visions prophesy, Bohemian heresies, I trow; I know men of each quality; All things except myself I know. ENVOY Prince, I know all things ’neath the sky, Pale cheeks from those of rosy glow; I know death whence can no man fly; All things except myself I know. François Villon. CUPID AND CAMPASPE CUPID and my Campaspe played At cards for kisses; Cupid paid. He stakes his quiver, bow, and arrows, His mother’s doves and team of sparrows; Loses them too; then down he throws The coral of his lip, the rose Growing on his cheek, but none knows how; With these the crystal of his brow, And then the dimple of his chin:— All these did my Campaspe win. At last he set her both his eyes; She won, and Cupid blind did rise. O Love! has she done this to thee? What shall, alas, become of me! John Lilly. A DITTY MY true love hath my heart, and I have his, By just exchange one to the other given: I hold his dear, and mine he cannot miss, [7] [8] There never was a better bargain driven: My true love hath my heart, and I have his. His heart in me keeps him and me in one, My heart in him his thoughts and senses guides: He loves my heart, for once it was his own, I cherish his because in me it bides: My true love hath my heart, and I have his. Sir Philip Sidney. SONG FROM “TWELFTH NIGHT” O MISTRESS mine! where are you roaming? O! stay and hear; your true love’s coming, That can sing both high and low: Trip no further, pretty sweeting; Journeys end in lovers’ meeting, Every wise man’s son doth know. What is love? ’tis not hereafter: Present mirth hath present laughter; What’s to come is still unsure: In delay there lies no plenty; Then come kiss me, sweet and twenty, Youth’s a stuff will not endure. William Shakespeare. SIGH NO MORE (From “Much Ado About Nothing”) SIGH no more, ladies, sigh no more, Men were deceivers ever; One foot in sea, and one on shore, To one thing constant never; Then sigh not so, But let them go, And be you blithe and bonny; Converting all your sounds of woe Into hey nonny, nonny. Sing no more ditties, sing no more, Of dumps so dull and heavy; The fraud of men was ever so, Since summer first was leavy: Then sigh not so, But let them go, And be you blithe and bonny; Converting all your sounds of woe Into hey nonny, nonny. William Shakespeare. PHILLIDA AND CORYDON IN the merry month of May, In a morn by break of day, With a troop of damsels playing Forth I rode, forsooth, a-maying, When anon by a woodside, [9] [10] Where as May was in his pride, I espied, all alone, Phillida and Corydon. Much ado there was, God wot! He would love, and she would not: She said, never man was true: He says, none was false to you. He said, he had loved her long: She says, Love should have no wrong. Corydon would kiss her then, She says, maids must kiss no men, Till they do for good and all. Then she made the shepherd call All the heavens to witness, truth Never loved a truer youth. Thus, with many a pretty oath, Yea, and nay, and faith and troth!— Such as silly shepherds use When they will not love abuse; Love, which had been long deluded, Was with kisses sweet concluded: And Phillida, with garlands gay, Was made the lady of the May. Nicholas Breton. CHERRY-RIPE THERE is a garden in her face Where roses and white lilies blow; A heavenly paradise is that place, Wherein all pleasant fruits do grow; There cherries grow that none may buy, Till cherry-ripe themselves do cry. Those cherries fairly do enclose Of Orient pearl a double row, Which when her lovely laughter shows, They look like rose-buds fill’d with snow; Yet them no peer or prince may buy, Till cherry-ripe themselves do cry. Her eyes like angels watch them still; Her brows like bended bows do stand, Threat’ning with piercing frowns to kill All that approach with eye or hand These sacred cherries to come nigh,— Till cherry-ripe themselves do cry! Richard Allison. SEND BACK MY LONG-STRAY’D EYES TO ME SEND back my long-stray’d eyes to me, Which, O! too long have dwelt on thee: But if from you they’ve learnt such ill, To sweetly smile, And then beguile, Keep the deceivers, keep them still. [11] [12]