JAMES SHIRLEY

1596-1666

5

ΙΟ

DEATH, THE LEVELLER

The glories of our blood and state
Are shadows, not substantial things;
There is no armour against fate;

Death lays his icy hand on kings:

Sceptre and crown

Must tumble down,

And in the dust be equal made

With the poor crooked scythe and spade.

Some men with swords may reap the field,
And plant fresh laurels where they kill;
But their strong nerves at last must yield;
They tame but one another still:
Early or late

They stoop to fate,

15 And must give up their murmuring breath, When they, pale captives, creep to death.

20

The garlands wither on your brow;

Then boast no more your mighty deeds! Upon Death's purple altar now

See, where the victor-victim bleeds.

Your heads must come

To the cold tomb:

Only the actions of the just

Smell sweet and blossom in their dust.

Note the historical enveloping action. "purple altar." Homer repeatedly calls "death" purple. Classify and analyse the great phrase. This poem is said to have made Oliver Cromwell tremble. Scan (5-8). Shirley cannot properly be called a Caroline poet; he is an Elizabethan.

5

ΙΟ

ROBERT HERRICK

1591-1674

Optional Poems

To The Virgins —

To Violets.

Sweet, Be Not Proud

Gather ye

rosebuds while ye may.

To The Virgins, To Make Much Of Time.

That man lives twice that lives the first life well.

CORINNA'S GOING A-MAYING

Get up! get up for shame! the blooming morn
Upon her wings presents the god unshorn.

See how Aurora throws her fair
Fresh-quilted colours through the air:
Get up, sweet slug-a-bed and see

The dew bespangling herb and tree!

Each flower has wept and bow'd toward the east
Above an hour since: yet you not dress'd;

Nay! not so much as out of bed?
When all the birds have matins said

- Virtue.

And sung their thankful hymns, 'tis sin,
Nay, profanation to keep in,

Whereas a thousand virgins on this day
Spring, sooner than the lark, to fetch in May.

15 Rise and put on your foliage, and be seen To come forth, like the spring-time, fresh and green, And sweet as Flora. Take no care

20

25

For jewels for your gown or hair:
Fear not; the leaves will strew

Gems in abundance upon you:

Besides, the childhood of the day has kept,
Against you come, some orient pearls unwept.
Come, and receive them while the light

Hangs on the dew-locks of the night:

And Titan on the eastern hill

Retires himself or else stands still

Till you come forth! Wash, dress, be brief in praying.
Few beads are best, when once we go a-Maying.

Come, my Corinna, come; and coming, mark
30 How each field turns a street, each street a park
Made green and trimm'd with trees! see how
Devotion gives each house a bough

Or branch! each porch, each door ere this
An ark, a tabernacle is,

35 Made up of white-thorn neatly interwove;
As if here were those cooler shades of love.

40

Can such delights be in the street
And open fields and we not see't?
Come, we'll abroad; and let's obey

The proclamation made for May,

And sin no more, as we have done by staying;
But, my Corinna, come, let's go a-Maying.

45

There's not a budding boy or girl this day
But is got up, and gone to bring in May.

A deal of youth, ere this is come

Back, and with white-thorn laden home :
Some have dispatched their cakes and cream,
Before that we have left to dream:

And some have wept and woo'd and plighted troth, 50 And chose their priest, ere we can cast off sloth: Many a green-gown has been given,

Many a kiss, both odd and even :
Many a glance, too, has been sent
From out the eye, love's firmament:

55 Many a jest told of the keys betraying

60

65

This night, and locks pick'd: yet we're not a-Maying!

Come, let us go while we are in our prime,

And take the harmless folly of the time!

We shall grow old apȧce, and die

Before we know our liberty.

Our life is short, and our days run
As far away as does the sun.

And, as a vapour or a drop of rain,
Once lost, can ne'er be found again,

So when or you or I are made
A fable, song, or fleeting shade,

All love, all liking, all delight

Lies drown'd with us in endless night.

Then, while time serves, and we are but decaying,

70 Come, my Corinna, come, let's go a-Maying.

Compare (1-28) to Chaucer's sunrise in "The Knight's Tale," where Emily goes forth into the garden to do observance to May, and classify the similitudes. Likewise, compare Herrick's sunrise to Chaucer's in "The Knightes Tale," where Arcite does observance to May. (21-22) Cf. Shakespere, Ham. Act I. 1. 166–167: