Best jewel that the earth doth wear!

Even when the brave young sun draws near,
To her hot love pretending;

Himself likewise like form doth bear,

At rising and descending.

Rose, of the queen of love beloved;
England's great kings divinely moved
Gave roses in their banner;

It showed that beauty's rose indeed,
Now in this age should them succeed,
And reign in more sweet manner.

BARNABE BARNES.

(1569?-1609.)

Ode and Sonnet lxvi. of Parthenophil and Parthenope, 1593. Reprinted in Arber's Garner, vol. v.

ODE.

EHOLD, out walking in these valleys,

BEHOL

When fair PARTHENOPE doth tread,
How joysome FLORA with her dallies!
And, at her steps, sweet flowers bred!
Narcissus yellow,

And Amaranthus ever red,

Which all her footsteps overspread; With Hyacinth that finds no fellow.

Behold, within that shady thick,

Where my PARTHENOPE doth walk,
Her beauty makes trees moving quick,
Which of her grace in murmur talk!
The Poplar trees shed tears;

The blossomed Hawthorn, white as chalk;
And Aspen trembling on his stalk;
The tree which sweet frankincense bears;

The barren Hebene coaly black;

Green Ivy, with his strange embraces;
Daphne,1 which scorns Jove's thundercrack;
Sweet Cypress, set in sundry places;
And singing Atys2 tells

Unto the rest, my Mistress' graces!
From them, the wind her glory chases
Throughout the West, where it excels.

AF

SONNET.

H, sweet Content! where is thy mild abode? Is it with shepherds, and light-hearted swains, Which sing upon the downs, and pipe abroad, Tending their flocks and cattle on the plains? Ah, sweet Content! where dost thou safely rest? In heaven, with angels, which the praises sing Of Him that made, and rules at His behest, The minds and hearts of every living thing? Ah, sweet Content! where doth thine harbour hold? Is it in churches, with religious men,

Which please the gods with prayers manifold,

And in their studies meditate it then?

Whether thou dost in

Be where thou wilt!

1 the laurel.

heaven, or earth appear;

Thou wilt not harbour here!

2 the pine-tree.

"J. C."

BEAUTY AND TIME.

From Alcilia: Philoparthen's Loving Folly, 1595.
Reprinted in Arber's Garner, vol. iv.

THAT thing is Beauty? "Nature's dearest Minion!"

WHAT

"The Snare of Youth! like the inconstant moon

Waxing and waning!" "Error of Opinion!"

"A Morning's Flower, that withereth ere noon!"

"A swelling Fruit! no sooner ripe, than rotten!" "Which sickness makes forlorn, and time forgotten!"

The time will come when, looking in a glass,
Thy rivelled face with sorrow thou shalt see!
And sighing, say, "It is not as it was!

These cheeks were wont more fresh and fair to be!
But now, what once made me so much admired
Is least regarded, and of none desired!"

Though thou be fair, think Beauty but a blast!
A morning's dew! a shadow quickly gone!
A painted flower, whose colour will not last!
Time steals away, when least we think thereon.
Most precious time! too wastefully expended;
Of which alone the sparing is commended.

Thy large smooth forehead, wrinkled shall appear!
Vermilion hue, to pale and wan shall turn!
Time shall deface what Youth has held most dear!
Yea, those clear Eyes (which once my heart did burn)
Shall, in their hollow circles, lodge the night;

And yield more cause of terror than delight!

THOMAS HEYWOOD.

(1575?-1650?)

These are songs in the drama of the Rape of Lucrece, 1608 (acted 1605), accessible in the Mermaid edition of Heywood's Best Plays, or in the collected edition of his Dramatic Works (in six volumes, London, 1874).

PACK CLOUDS AWAY.

PACK clouds away, and welcome day,
With night we banish sorrow;

Sweet air, blow soft; mount, lark, aloft,
To give my love good-morrow.
Wings from the wind to please her mind,
Notes from the lark I'll borrow:
Bird, prune thy wing; nightingale, sing,
To give my love good-morrow.
To give my love good-morrow,
Notes from them all I'll borrow.

Wake, from thy nest, robin redbreast,
Sing, birds, in every furrow;
And from each bill let music shrill
Give my fair love good-morrow.
Blackbird and thrush in every bush,
Stare, linnet, and cock-sparrow,
You pretty elves, amongst yourselves,
Sing my fair love good-morrow.
To give my love good-morrow,
Sing, birds, in every furrow.

SONG OF THE BELL.

COME, list and hark;

The bell doth toll,

For some but now

Departing soul.

And was not that

Some ominous fowl
The bat, the night-

Crow, or screech Owl?
To these I hear

The wild wolf howl

In this black night

That seems to scowl.
All these my black-
Book shall enroll;
For hark! still, still
The bell doth toll
For some but now
Departing soul.

THOMAS DEKKER.

(1570?-1641.)

The first two songs are from the Shoemaker's Holiday, acted 1599. The next two occur in the Pleasant Comedy of Patient Grissell, acted 1599, which was only written in part by Dekker, and possibly they are not by Dekker. The music of the first and fourth is given in Chappell's Old English Popular Music, and in Hullah's Golden Treasury Song Book. "The Gifts of Fortune and Cupid" is found in the Sun's Darling, a Moral Masque, by Ford and Dekker, acted 1624, which however is probably an adaptation of Dekker's Phaeton, a play of much earlier date. Dekker probably wrote the song. Dekker's Dramatic Works were collected into four volumes in 1873; they were also edited by Mr. Bullen in 1887.

TROLL THE BOWL!

OLD'S the wind, and wet's the rain,

COLD'S

Saint Hugh be our good speed!

Ill is the weather that bringeth no gain,
Nor helps good hearts in need.

Troll the bowl, the jolly nut-brown bowl,
And here, kind mate, to thee!