What if I beat the wanton boy With many a rod? He will repay me with annoy, Then sit thou safely on my knee, Spare not, but play thee. And we will sit upon the rocks, Seeing the shepherds feed their flocks, By shallow rivers, to whose falls Melodious birds sings madrigals. And I will make thee beds of roses, And a thousand fragrant posies, -THOM. LODGE (15587-1625) THE HERDMAN'S HAPPY LIFE What pleasure have great princes More dainty to their choice Than herdmen wild, who careless In quiet life rejoice? 36 A cap of flowers and a kirtle Embroider'd all with leaves of myrtle: 12 All day their flocks each tendeth, At night they take their rest, More quiet than who sendeth His ship into the east, Where gold and pearl are plenty, But getting very dainty. For lawyers and their pleading, They 'steem it not a straw; They think that honest meaning, Is of itself a law; Where conscience judgeth plainly, They spend no money vainly. Oh, happy who thus liveth! Not caring much for gold; With clothing which sufficeth, To keep him from the cold. Though poor and plain his diet, Yet merry it is and quiet. OUT OF M. BIRD'S SET SONGS 12 18 24 A gown made of the finest wool, A belt of straw and ivy buds, With coral clasps and amber studs; The shepherd swains shall dance and sing THE NYMPH'S REPLY TO THE SHEPHERD If all the world and love were young, Time drives the flocks from field to fold, The flowers do fade, and wanton fields 16 20 24 12 And as she runs, the bushes in the way Like a milch doe, whose swelling dugs do ache, By this, she hears the hounds are at a bay; Even so the timorous yelping of the hounds For now she knows it is no gentle chase, 880 |