Now the lusty Spring is seen;
Golden yellow, gaudy blue,
Daintily invite the view.
Everywhere, on every green,
Roses blushing as they blow,
And inticing men to pull!
Lilies whiter than the snow!
Woodbines, of sweet honey full!
All Love's emblems! and all cry,
'Ladies, if not plucked, we die!'
Yet the lusty Spring hath stayed!
Blushing red and purest white,
Daintily to Love invite
Every Woman, every Maid!
Cherries kissing, as they grow;
And inviting men to taste!
Apples even ripe below,
Winding gently to the waist!
All Love's emblems! and all cry,
'Ladies, if not plucked, we die!'
HEAR, ye Ladies that despise
What the mighty Love has done!
Fear examples; and be wise!
Fair CALLISTO was a nun!
LEDA, sailing on the stream,
(To deceive the hopes of Man;
Love accounting but a dream!)
Doted on a silver swan!
DANAË, in a brazen tower,
Where no love was, loved a Shower!
Hear, ye Ladies that are coy,
What the mighty Love can do!
Fear the fierceness of the Boy!
The chaste Moon, he makes to woo!
VESTA, kindling holy fires,
Circled round about with spies,
Never dreaming loose desires,
Doting, at the altar dies!
Ilion, in a short hour, higher
He can build; and, once more, fire!
SILVIO, go on! and raise thy noble mind.
To nobler ends! Fling coarse base thoughts behind! SILVIO, thou Son of everliving Fame,
Now aim at virtue, and a noble name!
SILVIO, consider, Honour is not won,
Nor Virtue reached, till some brave thing be done!
Thy country calls thee now! she burns, and bleeds!
Now raise thyself, Young Man, to noble deeds!
Into the battle, SILVIO! There, seek forth
Danger and blood! By them stands sacred Worth!
GOD LYÆUS, ever young!
Ever honoured! ever sung!
Stained with blood of lusty grapes,
In a thousand lusty shapes,
Dance upon the mazer's brim!
In the crimson liquor swim!
From thy plenteous hand divine,
Let a river run with wine!
God of Youth! let, this day, here
Enter neither care; nor fear!
DRINK, to-day; and drown all sorrow!
You shall, perhaps, not do it to-morrow!
Best, while you have it, use your breath!
There is no drinking after death!
Wine works the heart up! wakes the wit!
There is no cure 'gainst Age but it!
It helps the headache, cough, and tisic!
And is, for all diseases, physic!
Then let us swill, boys! for our health!
Who drinks well, loves the common wealth!
And he that will to bed go sober,
Falls with the leaf still in October!
Go, happy heart! for thou shalt lie
Intombed in her; for whom I die!
Example of her cruelty!
Tell her, (if She chance to chide
Me for slowness, in her pride),
That it was for her, I died!
If a tear escape her eye;
'Tis not for my memory,
But thy rights of obsequy!
The Altar was my loving breast!
My heart, the sacrificèd Beast!
And I was myself the Priest!
Your body was the sacred Shrine!
Your cruel mind, the Power divine,
Pleased with the hearts of men; not kine!
CAST our caps and cares away! This is Beggars' Holiday!
At the crowning of our King, thus we ever dance and sing!
In the world, look out and see, Where so happy a Prince as he?
Where the nation live 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 say, 'and the Magistrates too, by!'
When the Subsidy 's increased; we are not a penny cessed!
Nor will any go to law with the Beggar, for a straw!
All which happiness he brags, he doth owe unto his rags!
THOU, deity, swift-wingèd Love!
Sometimes below, sometimes above,
Little in shape; but great in power!
Thou, that makest a heart thy tower;
And thy loopholes Ladies' eyes;
From whence, thou strik'st the fond and wise!
Did all the shafts in thy fair quiver
Stick fast in my ambitious liver;
Yet thy power would I adore!
And call upon thee, to shoot more!
Shoot more! Shoot more!
ARM! Arm! Arm! Arm! The scouts are all come in!
Keep your ranks close; and now your honours win!
Behold, from yonder hill the foe appears!
Bows, bills, glaives, arrows, shields, and spears!
Like a dark wood he comes, or tempest pouring!
O, view the Wings of Horse, the meadows scouring!
The Vanguard marches bravely! Hark, the drums!
Dub! dub! dub! dub! dub! dub!
They meet! They meet! Now the Battle comes!
See how the arrows fly,
That darken all the sky!
Hark, how the trumpets sound!
Tara! tara! tara!
Hark, how the hills rebound!
Hark, how the horses charge! In, boys! In, boys, in!
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