He ask'd an alms; I gave him bread,_The Hesperides & Noble Numbers: Vol. 1 and 2

And meat too, for his need:

Of which, when he had fully fed,

He wished me all good speed.

Away he went, but as he turn'd

(In faith I know not how)

He touch'd me so, as that I burn['d],

And am tormented now.

Love's silent flames and fires obscure

Then crept into my heart;

And though I saw no bow, I'm sure

His finger was the dart.

946. AN HYMN TO LOVE.

I will confess

With cheerfulness,

Love is a thing so likes me,

That let her lay

On me all day,

I'll kiss the hand that strikes me.

I will not, I,

Now blubb'ring, cry,

It, ah! too late repents me,

That I did fall

To love at all,

Since love so much contents me.

No, no, I'll be

In fetters free:

While others they sit wringing

Their hands for pain,

I'll entertain

The wounds of love with singing.

With flowers and wine,

And cakes divine,

To strike me I will tempt thee:

Which done; no more

I'll come before

Thee and thine altars empty.

947. TO HIS HONOURED AND MOST INGENIOUS FRIEND, MR. CHARLES COTTON.

For brave comportment, wit without offence,

Words fully flowing, yet of influence:

Thou art that man of men, the man alone,

Worthy the public admiration:

Who with thine own eyes read'st what we do write,

And giv'st our numbers euphony and weight;

Tell'st when a verse springs high, how understood

To be, or not, born of the royal blood.

What state above, what symmetry below,

Lines have, or should have, thou the best can'st show.

For which, my Charles, it is my pride to be

Not so much known, as to be lov'd of thee.

Long may I live so, and my wreath of bays

Be less another's laurel than thy praise.

948. WOMEN USELESS.

What need we marry women, when

Without their use we may have men,

And such as will in short time be

For murder fit, or mutiny?

As Cadmus once a new way found,

By throwing teeth into the ground;

From which poor seed, and rudely sown,

Sprung up a war-like nation:

So let us iron, silver, gold,

Brass, lead, or tin throw into th' mould;

And we shall see in little space

Rise up of men a fighting race.

If this can be, say then, what need

Have we of women or their seed?

949. LOVE IS A SYRUP.

Love is a syrup; and whoe'er we see

Sick and surcharg'd with this satiety,

Shall by this pleasing trespass quickly prove

_There's loathsomeness e'en in the sweets of love_.

950. LEAVEN.

Love is a leaven; and a loving kiss

The leaven of a loving sweetheart is.

951. REPLETION.

Physicians say repletion springs

More from the sweet than sour things.

952. ON HIMSELF.

Weep for the dead, for they have lost this light:

And weep for me, lost in an endless night.

Or mourn, or make a marble verse for me,

Who writ for many. Benedicite.

953. NO MAN WITHOUT MONEY.

No man such rare parts hath that he can swim,

If favour or occasion help not him.

954. ON HIMSELF.

Lost to the world; lost to myself; alone

Here now I rest under this marble stone:

In depth of silence, heard and seen of none.

955. TO M. LEONARD WILLAN, HIS PECULIAR FRIEND.

I will be short, and having quickly hurl'd

This line about, live thou throughout the world;

Who art a man for all scenes; unto whom,

What's hard to others, nothing's troublesome.

Can'st write the comic, tragic strain, and fall

From these to pen the pleasing pastoral:

Who fli'st at all heights: prose and verse run'st through;

Find'st here a fault, and mend'st the trespass too:

For which I might extol thee, but speak less,

Because thyself art coming to the press:

And then should I in praising thee be slow,

Posterity will pay thee what I owe.

956. TO HIS WORTHY FRIEND, M. JOHN HALL, STUDENT OF GRAY'S INN.

Tell me, young man, or did the Muses bring

Thee less to taste than to drink up their spring,

That none hereafter should be thought, or be

A poet, or a poet-like but thee?

What was thy birth, thy star that makes thee known,

At twice ten years, a prime and public one?

Tell us thy nation, kindred, or the whence

Thou had'st and hast thy mighty influence,

That makes thee lov'd, and of the men desir'd,

And no less prais'd than of the maids admired.

Put on thy laurel then; and in that trim

Be thou Apollo or the type of him:

Or let the unshorn god lend thee his lyre,

And next to him be master of the choir.

957. TO JULIA.

Offer thy gift; but first the law commands

Thee, Julia, first, to sanctify thy hands:

Do that, my Julia, which the rites require,

Then boldly give thine incense to the fire.

958. TO THE MOST COMELY AND PROPER M. ELIZABETH FINCH.

Handsome you are, and proper you will be

Despite of all your infortunity:

Live long and lovely, but yet grow no less

In that your own prefixed comeliness:

Spend on that stock: and when your life must fall,

Leave others beauty to set up withal.

_Proper_, well-made.

960. TO HIS BOOK.

If hap it must, that I must see thee lie

Absyrtus-like, all torn confusedly:

With solemn tears, and with much grief of heart,

I'll recollect thee, weeping, part by part;

And having wash'd thee, close thee in a chest

With spice; that done, I'll leave thee to thy rest.

_Absyrtus-like_, the brother of Medea, cut in pieces by her that his

father might be delayed by gathering his limbs.

961. TO THE KING, UPON HIS WELCOME TO HAMPTON COURT. SET AND SUNG.

Welcome, great Cæsar, welcome now you are

As dearest peace after destructive war:

Welcome as slumbers, or as beds of ease

After our long and peevish sicknesses.

O pomp of glory! Welcome now, and come

To repossess once more your long'd-for home.

A thousand altars smoke: a thousand thighs

Of beeves here ready stand for sacrifice.

Enter and prosper; while our eyes do wait

For an ascendent throughly auspicate:

Under which sign we may the former stone

Lay of our safety's new foundation:

That done, O Cæsar! live and be to us

Our fate, our fortune, and our genius;

To whose free knees we may our temples tie

As to a still protecting deity:

That should you stir, we and our altars too

May, great Augustus, go along with you.

_Chor._ Long live the King! and to accomplish this,

We'll from our own add far more years to his.

_Ascendent_, the most influential position of a planet in astrology.

_Auspicate_, propitious.

962. ULTIMUS HEROUM: OR, TO THE MOST LEARNED, AND TO THE RIGHT

HONOURABLE, HENRY, MARQUIS OF DORCHESTER.

And as time past when Cato the severe

Enter'd the circumspacious theatre,

In reverence of his person everyone

Stood as he had been turn'd from flesh to stone;

E'en so my numbers will astonished be

If but looked on; struck dead, if scann'd by thee.

963. TO HIS MUSE; ANOTHER TO THE SAME.

Tell that brave man, fain thou would'st have access

To kiss his hands, but that for fearfulness;

Or else because th'art like a modest bride,

Ready to blush to death, should he but chide.

966. TO HIS LEARNED FRIEND, M. JO. HARMAR, PHYSICIAN TO THE COLLEGE OF

WESTMINSTER.

When first I find those numbers thou dost write,

To be most soft, terse, sweet, and perpolite:

Next, when I see thee tow'ring in the sky,

In an expansion no less large than high;

Then, in that compass, sailing here and there,

And with circumgyration everywhere;

Following with love and active heat thy game,

And then at last to truss the epigram;

I must confess, distinction none I see

Between Domitian's Martial then, and thee.

But this I know, should Jupiter again

Descend from heaven to reconverse with men;

The Roman language full, and superfine,

If Jove would speak, he would accept of thine.

_Perpolite_, well polished.

967. UPON HIS SPANIEL TRACY.

Now thou art dead, no eye shall ever see,

For shape and service, spaniel like to thee.

This shall my love do, give thy sad death one

Tear, that deserves of me a million.

968. THE DELUGE.

Drowning, drowning, I espy

Coming from my Julia's eye:

'Tis some solace in our smart,

To have friends to bear a part:

I have none; but must be sure

Th' inundation to endure.

Shall not times hereafter tell

This for no mean miracle?

When the waters by their fall

Threaten'd ruin unto all,

Yet the deluge here was known

Of a world to drown but one.

971. STRENGTH TO SUPPORT SOVEREIGNTY.

Let kings and rulers learn this line from me:

_Where power is weak, unsafe is majesty_.

973. CRUTCHES.

Thou see'st me, Lucia, this year droop;

Three zodiacs filled more, I shall stoop;

Let crutches then provided be

To shore up my debility.

Then, while thou laugh'st, I'll sighing cry,

"A ruin, underpropp'd, am I".

Don will I then my beadsman's gown,

And when so feeble I am grown,

As my weak shoulders cannot bear

The burden of a grasshopper,

Yet with the bench of aged sires,

When I and they keep termly fires,

With my weak voice I'll sing, or say,

Some odes I made of Lucia:

Then will I heave my wither'd hand

To Jove the mighty, for to stand

Thy faithful friend, and to pour down

Upon thee many a benison.

_Zodiacs_, used as symbols of the astronomical year.

_Beadsman's_, almshouseman's.

974. TO JULIA.

Holy waters hither bring

For the sacred sprinkling:

Baptise me and thee, and so

Let us to the altar go,

And, ere we our rites commence,

Wash our hands in innocence.

Then I'll be the Rex Sacrorum,

Thou the Queen of Peace and Quorum.

_Quorum_, _i.e._, quorum of justices of the peace, sportively added

for the rhyme's sake.

975. UPON CASE.

Case is a lawyer, that ne'er pleads alone,

But when he hears the like confusion,

As when the disagreeing Commons throw

About their House, their clamorous Aye or No:

Then Case, as loud as any serjeant there,

Cries out: My lord, my lord, the case is clear.

But when all's hush'd, Case, than a fish more mute,

Bestirs his hand, but starves in hand the suit.

976. TO PERENNA.

I a dirge will pen to thee;

Thou a trentall make for me:

That the monks and friars together,

Here may sing the rest of either:

Next, I'm sure, the nuns will have

Candlemas to grace the grave.

_Trentall_, services for the dead.

977. TO HIS SISTER-IN-LAW, M. SUSANNA HERRICK.

The person crowns the place; your lot doth fall

Last, yet to be with these a principal.

Howe'er it fortuned; know for truth, I meant

You a fore-leader in this testament.

978. UPON THE LADY CREW.

This stone can tell the story of my life,

What was my birth, to whom I was a wife:

In teeming years, how soon my sun was set.

Where now I rest, these may be known by jet.

For other things, my many children be

The best and truest chronicles of me.

979. ON TOMASIN PARSONS.

Grow up in beauty, as thou dost begin,

And be of all admired, Tomasin.

980. CEREMONY UPON CANDLEMAS EVE.

Down with the rosemary, and so

Down with the bays and mistletoe;

Down with the holly, ivy, all,

Wherewith ye dressed the Christmas Hall:

That so the superstitious find

No one least branch there left behind:

For look, how many leaves there be

Neglected, there (maids, trust to me)

So many goblins you shall see.

981. SUSPICION MAKES SECURE.

He that will live of all cares dispossess'd,

Must shun the bad, aye, and suspect the best.

983. TO HIS KINSMAN, M. THO. HERRICK, WHO DESIRED TO BE IN HIS BOOK.

Welcome to this my college, and though late

Thou'st got a place here (standing candidate)

It matters not, since thou art chosen one

Here of my great and good foundation.

984. A BUCOLIC BETWIXT TWO: LACON AND THYRSIS.

_Lacon._ For a kiss or two, confess,

What doth cause this pensiveness,

Thou most lovely neat-herdess?

Why so lonely on the hill?

Why thy pipe by thee so still,

That erewhile was heard so shrill?

Tell me, do thy kine now fail

To full fill the milking-pail?

Say, what is't that thou dost ail?

_Thyr._ None of these; but out, alas!

A mischance is come to pass,

And I'll tell thee what it was:

See, mine eyes are weeping-ripe.

_Lacon._ Tell, and I'll lay down my pipe.

_Thyr._ I have lost my lovely steer,

That to me was far more dear

Than these kine which I milk here:

Broad of forehead, large of eye,

Party-colour'd like a pie;

Smooth in each limb as a die;

Clear of hoof, and clear of horn:

Sharply pointed as a thorn,

With a neck by yoke unworn;

From the which hung down by strings,

Balls of cowslips, daisy rings,

Interplac'd with ribbonings:

Faultless every way for shape;

Not a straw could him escape;

Ever gamesome as an ape,

But yet harmless as a sheep.

Pardon, Lacon, if I weep;

_Tears will spring where woes are deep_.

Now, ay me! ay me! Last night

Came a mad dog and did bite,

Aye, and kill'd my dear delight.

_Lacon._ Alack, for grief!

_Thyr._ But I'll be brief.

Hence I must, for time doth call

Me, and my sad playmates all,

To his ev'ning funeral.

Live long, Lacon, so adieu!

_Lacon._ Mournful maid, farewell to you;

_Earth afford ye flowers to strew_.

_Pie_, _i.e._, a magpie.

985. UPON SAPPHO.

Look upon Sappho's lip, and you will swear

There is a love-like leaven rising there.

988. A BACCHANALIAN VERSE.

Drink up

Your cup,

But not spill wine;

For if you

Do,

'Tis an ill sign;

That we

Foresee

You are cloy'd here,

If so, no

Ho,

But avoid here.

989. CARE A GOOD KEEPER.

_Care keeps the conquest; 'tis no less renown

To keep a city than to win a town._

990. RULES FOR OUR REACH.

Men must have bounds how far to walk; for we

Are made far worse by lawless liberty.

991. TO BIANCA.

Ah, Bianca! now I see

It is noon and past with me:

In a while it will strike one;

Then, Bianca, I am gone.

Some effusions let me have

Offer'd on my holy grave;

Then, Bianca, let me rest

With my face towards the East.

992. TO THE HANDSOME MISTRESS GRACE POTTER.

As is your name, so is your comely face

Touch'd everywhere with such diffused grace,

As that in all that admirable round

There is not one least solecism found;

And as that part, so every portion else

Keeps line for line with beauty's parallels.

993. ANACREONTIC.

I must

Not trust

Here to any;

Bereav'd,

Deceiv'd

By so many:

As one

Undone

By my losses;

Comply

Will I

With my crosses;

Yet still

I will

Not be grieving,

Since thence

And hence

Comes relieving.

But this

Sweet is

In our mourning;

Times bad

And sad

Are a-turning:

And he

Whom we

See dejected,

Next day

We may

See erected.

994. MORE MODEST, MORE MANLY.

'Tis still observ'd those men most valiant are,

That are most modest ere they come to war.

995. NOT TO COVET MUCH WHERE LITTLE IS THE CHARGE.

Why should we covet much, whenas we know

W'ave more to bear our charge than way to go?

996. ANACREONTIC VERSE.

Brisk methinks I am, and fine

When I drink my cap'ring wine:

Then to love I do incline,

When I drink my wanton wine:

And I wish all maidens mine,

When I drink my sprightly wine:

Well I sup and well I dine,

When I drink my frolic wine;

But I languish, lower, and pine,

When I want my fragrant wine.

998. PATIENCE IN PRINCES.

_Kings must not use the axe for each offence:

Princes cure some faults by their patience._

999. FEAR GETS FORCE.

_Despair takes heart, when there's no hope to speed:

The coward then takes arms and does the deed._

1000. PARCEL-GILT POETRY.

Let's strive to be the best; the gods, we know it,

Pillars and men, hate an indifferent poet.

1001. UPON LOVE, BY WAY OF QUESTION AND ANSWER.