Persuasions to Enjoy 575 TO MY INCONSTANT MISTRESS WHEN thou, poor Excommunicate From all the joys of Love, shalt see Which my strong faith shall purchase me, A fairer hand than thine shall cure That heart which thy false oaths did wound; Than thine shall by Love's hand be bound, Then shalt thou weep, entreat, complain When all thy tears shall be as vain As mine were then: for thou shalt be Thomas Carew [1598?- 1639?] PERSUASIONS TO ENJOY If the quick spirits in your eye Then, Celia, let us reap our joys Or, if that golden fleece must grow If those bright suns must know no shade, Nor your fresh beauties ever fade: Then fear not, Celia, to bestow What, still being gathered, still must grow. Thus either Time his sickle brings Thomas Carew [1598?-1639?] MEDIOCRITY IN LOVE REJECTED GIVE me more love, or more disdain: The temperate affords me none: Give me a storm; if it be love, Like Danaë in that golden shower, Disdain, that torrent will devour Then crown my joys, or cure my pain: Thomas Carew [1598?-1639?] THE MESSAGE YE little birds that sit and sing Go, pretty birds, about her bower; Go tell her through your chirping bills, To her is only known my love, Which from the world is hidden. Go, pretty birds, and tell her so, See that your notes strain not too low, For still methinks I see her frown; Ye pretty wantons, warble. "How Can the Heart Forget Her" 577 Go tune your voices' harmony every note O fly! make haste! sec, see, she falls Sing round about her rosy bed That waking she may wonder: Say to her, 'tis her lover true Thomas Heywood [ ? -1650?] "HOW CAN THE HEART FORGET HER" Ar her fair hands how have I grace entreated Yet still my love is thwarted: Heart, let her go, for she'll not be converted- O no, no, no, no, no! She is most fair, though she be marble-hearted. How often have my sighs declared my anguish, Yet still she doth procure it: Heart, let her go, for I cannot endure it— Say, shall she go? O no, no, no, no, no! She gave the wound, and she alone must cure it. But shall I still a true affection owe her, 7 And shall she still disdain me? Heart, let her go, if they no grace can gain me- O no, no, no, no, no! She made me hers, and hers she will retain me. But if the love that hath and still doth burn me Out of my thoughts I'll set her: Heart, let her go, O heart I pray thee, let her! O no, no, no, no, no! Fixed in the heart, how can the heart forget her? Francis Davison [Al. 1602] TO ROSES IN THE BOSOM OF CASTARA YE blushing virgins happy are In the chaste nunnery of her breasts- Whoe'er should call them Cupid's nests. Transplanted thus how bright ye grow! In those white cloisters live secure From the rude blasts of wanton breath!- Till you shall wither into death. Then that which living gave you room, Your glorious sepulcher shall be. There wants no marble for a tomb Whose breast hath marble been to me. William Habington [1605-1654] TO FLAVIA 'Tis not your beauty can engage My wary heart; The sun, in all his pride and rage, Has not that art; When, Dearest, I But Think of Thee" 579 And yet he shines as bright as you, 'Tis not the pretty things you say, Which can make Thyrsis' heart your prey: For that delight, The graces of a well-taught mind, In some of our own sex we find. No, Flavia, 'tis your love I fear; Those which so seldom fail him, are Their very shadows make us yield; Dissemble well, and win the field! Edmund Waller [1606-1687] "LOVE NOT ME FOR COMELY GRACE" LOVE not me for comely grace, For my pleasing eye or face; Nor for any outward part, No, nor for a constant heart: For these may fail or turn to ill, So thou and I shall sever. Keep, therefore, a true woman's eye, So hast thou the same reason still To doat upon me ever. Unknown "WHEN, DEAREST, I BUT THINK OF THEE" WHEN, dearest, I but think of thee, Methinks all things that lovely be Are present, and my soul delighted: For beauties that from worth arise Are like the grace of deities, Still present with us, though unsighted. |