BEN JONSON.

1574-1637.

To Celia.

[From "The Forest."]

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 look for wine.*

The Sweet Neglect.

[From the "Silent woman." Act i. Sc. 5.]
Still to be neat, still to be drest
As you were going to a feast.

Give me a look, give me a face,
That makes simplicity a grace.
Robes loosely flowing, hair as free;
Such sweet neglect more taketh me,
Than all th' adulteries of art

That strike mine eyes, but not my heart.

Good Life, Long Life.

In small proportion we just beauties see,
And in short measures life may perfect be.

* Ἐμοὶ δὲ μόνοις πρόπινε τοῖς ὄμμασιν. . . . . Ει δὲ Βούλει, τοῖς χείλεσι προσφέρουσα, πλήρου φιλημάτων τὸ ἔκπωμα, καὶ οὕτως δίδου. Philostratus, Letter xxiv.

Epitaph on Elizabeth.

Underneath this stone doth lie
A's much beauty as could die;
Which in life did harbor give
To more virtue than doth live.

Epitaph on the Countess of Pembroke.
Underneath this sable hearse
Lies the subject of all verse,
Sidney's sister, Pembroke's mother.
Death! ere thou hast slain another,
Learned and fair and good as she,
Time shall throw a dart at thee.

To the Memory of Shakespeare.

Soul of the age!

The applause! delight! the wonder of our stage! My Shakespeare rise.

Small Latin, and less Greek.

He was not of an age, but for all time.

Get

Every Man in his Humor. Act ii. Sc. 3. money; still get money, boy;

No matter by what means.

FRANCIS BEAUMONT.

1585-1616.

Letter to Ben Jonson.

What things have we seen

Done at the Mermaid! heard words that have been
So nimble and so full of subtile flame,

As if that every one from whence they came
Had meant to put his whole wit in a jest,

And resolved to live a fool the rest

Of his dull life.

GEORGE WITHER.

1588-1667.

The Shepherd's Resolution.

Shall I, wasting in despair,

Die because a woman 's fair?
Or make pale my cheeks with care,
'Cause another's rosy are?

Be she fairer than the day,
Or the flow'ry meads in May,

If she be not so to me,

What care I how fair she be?*

* Shall I like a hermit dwell
On a rock or in a cell,

Calling home the smallest part
That is missing of my heart,
To bestow it where I may
Meet a rival every day?

If she undervalue me

What care I how fair she be.

Attributed to Sir Walter Raleigh.

THOMAS CAREW.

1589-1639.

Disdain Returned.

He that loves a rosy cheek,
Or a coral lip admires,
Or from star-like eyes doth seek
Fuel to maintain his fires;
As old Time makes these decay,
So his flames must waste away.

Conquest by Flight.

Then fly betimes, for only they
Conquer love, that run away.

FRANCIS QUARLES.

1592-1644.

Emblems. Book ii. 2.

Be wisely worldly, but not worldly wise.

Book ii. Epigram 10.

This house is to be let for life or years;

Her rent is sorrow, and her income tears;

Cupid 't has long stood void; her bills make known,

She must be dearly let, or let alone.

GEORGE HERBERT.

1593-1632.

Virtue.

Sweet day, so cool, so calm, so bright,

The bridal of the earth and skies.

Only a sweet and virtuous soul,
Like seasoned timber, never gives.

The Answer.

Like summer friends,

Flies of estates and sunnen shine.

The Elixir.

A servant with this clause

Makes drudgery divine;

Who sweeps a room as for thy laws

Makes that and the action fine.

The Church Porch.

A verse may find him who a sermon flies,
And turn delight into a sacrifice.

Dare to be true, nothing can need a lie;
A fault which needs it most, grows two thereby.