In one met thought. But he went on a pace,
And at the present times with such a face
He rail'd as fry'd me; for he gave no praise
To any but my Lord of Essex's days;

True, (quoth he)

Call'd those the age of action.
There's now as great an itch of bravery,
And heat of taking up, but cold lay down,
For put to push of pay, away they run:

40

Our only city trades of hope now are

Bawds, tavern-keepers, whore, and scrivener;
"The much of priviledg'd kinsmen, and the store
Of fresh protections make the rest all poor:
In the first state of their creation

Tho' many stoutly stand, yet proves not one

50

A righteous pay-master. Thus ran he on
In a continued rage: so void of reason

Seem'd his harsh talk, I swate for fear of treason.
And (troth) how could I less? when in the prayer
For the protection of the wise Lord Mayor;
And his wise brethren's worships, when one prayeth,
He swore that none could say Amen with faith.
To get him off from what I glow'd to hear,
(In happy time) an Angel did appear,
The bright sign of a lov'd and well-tried inn,
Where many citizens with their wives had been
Well us'd and often: here I pray'd him stay
To take some due refreshment by the way.

2

Look how he look'd that hid his gold, his hope,HA And at his return found nothing but a rope;

So he on me: refus'd, and made away,

Tho' willing she pleaded a weary day;:

10

I found my miss, struck bands, and pray'd him tell
(To hold acquaintance still) where he did dwell;
He barely nam'd the street, promis'd the wine;
But his kind wife gave me the very sign."

ELEGY XVII.

THE EXPOSTULATION.

八

To make the doubt clear, that no woman 's true,
Was it my fate to prove it strong in you?
Thought I, hut one had breathed purest air,
And must she needs be false because she 's fair?
Is it your beauty's mark, or of your youth,
Or your perfection, not to study truth?
Or think you Heav'n is deaf, or hath no eyes,
Or those it hath smile at your perjuries?!
Are vows so cheap with women, or the matter
Whereof they're made, that they are writ in water,
And blown away with wind? or doth their breath bea
(Both hot and cold) at once make life and death? W
Who could have thought so many accents sweet,
Form'd into words, so many sighs should meer; in t
As from our hearts; so many oaths and tears ad ort lit
Sprinkled among, (all sweeten'd by our fears)

:

و !

1

And the divine impression of stoln kisses,

That seal'd the rest, should now prove empty blisses?
Did you draw bonds to forfeit? sign to break?
Or must we read you quite from what you speak, 20
And find the truth out the wrong way? or must
He first desire you false who 'ld wish you just?
O! I prophane: tho' most of women be

This kind of beast, my thoughts shall except thee,
My dearest Love! tho' froward jealousy
With circumstance might urge thy' inconstancy,
Sooner I'll think the sun will cease to chear
The teeming earth, and that forget to bear;
Sooner that rivers will run back, or Thames
With ribs of ice in June will bind his streams; 30
Or Nature, by whose strength the world indures,
Would change her course, before you alter your's.
But, oh! that treacherous breast, to whom weak you
Did trust our counsels, and we both may rue,"
Having his falsehood found too late, 'twas he
That made me cast you guilty, and you me;
Whilst he (black wretch!) betray'd each simple word,
We spake unto the cunning of a third.

Curst may he be that so our love hath slain,

1

And wander on the earth wretched as Cain! 240

Wretched as he, and not deserve least pity;

Let all eyes shun him, and he shun each eye,

Till he be noisome as his infamy!

Donne

Dij

May he without remorse deny God thrice,
And not be trusted more on his soul's price;
And after all self-torment, when he dies
May wolves tear out his heart, vultures his eyes,
Swine eat his bowels, and his falser tongue,
That utter'd all, be to some raven flung;
And let his carrion-corse be a longer feast
To the king's dogs than any other beast!?
Now I have curst, let us our love revive;
In me the flame was never more alive:
I could begin again to court and praise,
And in that pleasure lengthen the short days
Of my life's lease: like painters that do take
Delight not in made works, but whilst they make.
I could renew those times when first I saw

Love in your eyes, that gave my tongue the law
To like what you lik'd, and at masks and plays
Commend the self-same actors the same ways;
Ask how you did, and often, with intent
Of being officious, be impertinent:

All which were such soft pastimes, as in these
Love was as subtilely catch'd as a disease;
But being got, it is a treasure sweet,
Which to defend is harder than to get,
And ought not to be prophan'd on either part,
For tho' 'tis got by chance 'tis kept by art.

70 d

/

WHOEVER loves, if he do not propose

The right tre end of Love, he's one that goes
To sea for nothing but to make him sick.
Love is a bear-whelp born; if we o'er-lick
Our love, and force it new strong shapes to take,
We err, and of a lump a monster make.
Were not a calf a monster, that were grown
Fac'd like a man, tho' better than his own?
Perfection is in unity: prefer

One woman first, and then one thing in her
I, when I value gold, may think upon
The ductileness, the application,

The wholsomeness, the ingenuity,
From rust, from soil, from fire, ever free
But if I love it, 'tis because 'tis made
w wodza
By our new nature (use) the soul of trade no t
All these in women we might think upqgA
(If women had them) and yet love but one
Can men more injure women than to say toy is w
They love them for that by which they're not they
Makes virtue woman? must I cool my blood to
Tall I both be and find one wise aud good?

LA

10

May barren angels love so: but if we

Make love to woman, virtue is not she: