*

A whittle with a silver chape:
Cloak was russet, and the cape
Served for a bonnet oft

To shrowd him from the wet aloft:
A leather scrip of colour red,
With a button on the head.
A bottle full of country whig*
By the shepherd's side did lig; t
And in a little bush hard by,
There the shepherd's dog did lie,
Who, while his master 'gan to sleep,
Well could watch both kids and sheep.
The shepherd was a frolic swain;
For though his 'parel was but plain,
Yet doon the authors soothly say,
His colour was both fresh and gay,
And in their writs plain discuss,
Fairer was not Tityrus,

Nor Menalcas, whom they call
The alderliefest‡ swain of all.
Seeming him was his wife,
Both in line and in life:
Fair she was as fair might be,
Like the roses on the tree;
Buxom, blithe, and young, I ween,
Beauteous like a summer's queen,
For her cheeks were ruddy-hued,
As if lilies were imbrued

With drops of blood, to make the white
Please the eye with more delight:
Love did lie within her eyes

In ambush for some wanton prize.
A liefer lass than this had been

Coridon had never seen,

whig] i. e. a liquor made from whey.

+ lig] i. e. lie.

alderliefest] See note ‡ p. 156, and note † p. 197.

Nor was Phillis, that fair may,*
Half so gaudy or so gay.

She wore a chaplet on her head;
Her cassock was of scarlet red,

Long and large, as straight as bent:
Her middle was both small and gent;
A neck as white as whale's bone,
Compass'd with a lace of stone.
Fine she was, and fair she was,
Brighter than the brightest glass;
Such a shepherd's wife as she
Was not more in Thessaly.

THE SHEPHERD'S WIFE'S SONG.

Aн, what is love? It it a pretty thing,
As sweet unto a shepherd as a king;
And sweeter too,

For kings have cares that wait upon a crown,
And cares can make the sweetest love to frown:
Ah then, ah then,

If country loves such sweet desires do gain,
What lady would not love a shepherd swain ?

His flocks are folded, he comes home at night,
As merry as a king in his delight;

And merrier too,

For kings bethink them what the state require,
Where shepherds careless carrol by the fire:
Ah then, ah then,

If country loves such sweet desires do† gain,
What lady would not love a shepherd swain?

may] i. e. maid.

t do] The 4to. omits this word of the burden in all the stanzas except the first.

He kisseth first, then sits as blithe to eat

His cream and curds, as doth the king his meat; And blither too,

For kings have often fears when they do sup,
Where shepherds dread no poison in their cup:
Ah then, ah then,

If country loves such sweet desires do gain,
What lady would not love a shepherd swain?

To bed he goes, as wanton then, I ween,
As is a king in dalliance with a queen;
More wanton too,

For kings have many griefs affects to move,
Where shepherds have no greater grief than love:
Ah then, ah then,

If country loves such sweet desires do gain,
What lady would not love a shepherd swain ?

Upon his couch of straw he sleeps as sound,
As doth the king upon his beds of down;
More sounder too,

For cares cause kings full oft their sleep to spill,
Where weary shepherds lie and snort their fill:
Ah then, ah then,

If country loves such sweet desires do gain,
What lady would not love a shepherd swain?

Thus with his wife he spends the year, as blithe
As doth the king at every tide or sith ;*

And blither too,

For kings have wars and broils to take in hand,
When shepherds laugh and love upon the land:
Ah then, ah then,

If country loves such sweet desires do gain,
What lady would not love a shepherd swain?

Isith] i. e. time.

HEXAMETRA ALEXIS IN LAUDEM ROSAMUNDÆ.

OFT have I heard my lief Coridon report on a love-day, When bonny maids do meet with the swains in the valley by Tempe,

How bright-ey'd his Phillis was, how lovely they

glanced,

When fro th' arches eben-black flew looks as a light

ning,

That set a-fire with piercing flames even hearts adamantine:

Face rose-hued,cherry-red, with a silver taint like a lily: Venus' pride might abate, might abash with a blush to behold her;

Phoebus' wires compar'd to her hairs unworthy the praising;

Juno's state and Pallas' wit disgrac'd with the Graces That grac'd her, whom poor Coridon did choose for a love-mate.

Ah, but had Coridon now seen the star that Alexis Likes and loves so dear, that he melts to sighs when he sees her,

Did Coridon but see those eyes, those amorous eye-lids, From whence fly holy flames of death or life in a

moment!

Ah, did he see that face, those hairs that Venus,

Apollo

Bash'd to behold, and, both disgrac'd, did grieve that

a creature

Should exceed in hue, compare both a god and a

goddess!

Ah, had he seen my sweet paramour, the taint of Alexis, Then had he said, Phillis, sit down surpassed in all

points,

For there is one more fair than thou, belov'd of Alexis!

HEXAMETRA ROSAMUNDE IN DOLOREM

AMISSI ALEXIS.

TEMPE, the grove where dark Hecate doth keep her abiding,

Tempe, the grove where poor Rosamond bewails her

Alexis,

Let not a tree nor a shrub be green to shew thy re

joicing,

Let not a leaf once deck thy boughs and branches, O Tempe!

Let not a bird record her tunes, nor chaunt any sweet

notes,

But Philomel, let her bewail the loss of her amours, And fill all the wood with doleful tunes to bemoan her: Parched leaves fill every spring, fill every fountain ; All the meads in mourning weed fit them to lamenting; Echo sit and sing despair i' the vallies, i' the mountains; All Thessaly help poor Rosamond mournful to bemoan her,

For she's quite bereft of her love, and left of Alexis! Once was she lik'd and once was she lov'd of wanton

Alexis :

Now is she loath'd and now is she left of trothless

Alexis.

[Diana,

Here did he clip and kiss Rosamond, and vow by None so dear to the swain as I, nor none so beloved; Here did he deeply swear and call great Pan for a

witness,

That Rosamond was only the rose belov'd of Alexis, That Thessaly had not such another nymph to delight

him :

None, quoth he, but Venus' fair shall have any kisses; Not Phillis, were Phillis alive, should have any favours, Nor Galate, Galate so fair for beauteous eyebrows,