THE SOLDIER’S DELIGHT.

(Made in the late times.)

From the Loyal Garland, 1686. Reprinted for the Percy Society, and

edited by J. O. Halliwell.

FAIR Phydelia, tempt no more,

I may not now thy beauty so adore,

Nor offer to thy shrine;

I serve one more divine

And greater far than you:

Hark! the trumpet calls away,

We must go, lest the foe

Get the field and win the day;

Then march bravely on,

Charge them in the van,

Our cause God’s is, though the odds is

Ten times ten to one.

Tempt no more, I may not yield,

Although thine eyes a kingdom may surprise;

Leave off thy wanton tales,

The high-born Prince of Wales

Is mounted in the field,

Where the loyal gentry flock,

Though forlorn, nobly born,

Of a ne’er-decaying stock;

Cavaliers, be bold, ne’er let go your hold,

Those that loiters are by traitors

Dearly bought and sold.

_Phydelia_.—One kiss more, and so farewell.

_Soldier_.—Fie, no more! I prithee fool give o’er;

Why cloud’st thou thus thy beams?

I see by these extremes,

A woman’s heaven or hell.

Pray the King may have his own,

That the Queen may be seen

With her babes on England’s throne;

Rally up your men, one shall vanquish ten,

Victory, we come to try our valour once again.

The Cavalier Songs and Ballads of England from 1642 to 1684 · 第 108 / 125 题