HIS WINDING-SHEET

279

CCCIX

MAN'S SERVICE

THE chief use then in Man of that he knows
Is his pains-taking for the good of all;
Not fleshly weeping for our own made woes,

Not laughing from a melancholy gall,

Not hating from a soul that overflows

With bitterness, breath'd out from inward thrall:
But sweetly rather to ease, loose, or bind,
As need requires, this frail, fall'n humankind.
Fulke Greville, Lord Brooke.

RJ J

CCCX

A WISH

ALL I can

My worldly strife shall be

They one day say of me

'He died a good old man':

On his sad soul a heavy burden lies

Who, known to all, unknown to himself dies.

Thou art of what I did intend

The all and end;

And what was made, was made to meet
Thee, thee, my sheet.

Come then and be to my chaste side
Both bed and bride:

We two, as reliques left, will have
One rest, one grave:

And hugging close, we will not fear
Lust entering here :

Where all desires are dead and cold
As is the mould;

And all affections are forgot,
Or trouble not.

Here, here, the slaves and prisoners be
From shackles free:

And weeping widows long oppress'd
Do here find rest.

The wrongèd client ends his laws.
Here, and his cause.

Here those long suits of Chancery lie
Quiet, or die :

And all Star-Chamber bills do cease

Here needs no Court for our Request
Where all are best,

All wise, all equal, and all just
Alike i' th' dust.

Nor need we here to fear the frown

Of court or crown:

Where fortune bears no sway o'er things, There all are kings.

7

A SEA DIRGE

In this securer place we'll keep
As lull'd asleep;

Or for a little time we 'll lie

As robes laid by;

To be another day reworn,

Turn'd, but not torn;

Or like old testaments engross'd,
Lock'd up, not lost.

And for a while lie here conceal'd,
To be reveal'd

Next at the great Platonick year,1

And then meet here.

281

Herrick.

CCCXII

A SEA DIRGE

FULL fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade,
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.
Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell :

Ding-dong.

Hark now I hear them,

-

Ding-dong, bell!

Shakespeare.

1 The 36,000th year, when all creation returns upon itself, and

begins a new cycle.

CCCXIII

A LAND DIRGE

CALL for the robin-redbreast and the wren,
Since o'er shady groves they hover,
And with leaves and flowers do cover
The friendless bodies of unburied men.
Call unto his funeral dole 1

The ant, the field-mouse, and the mole,

To rear him hillocks that shall keep him warm,

And (when gay tombs are robb'd) sustain no harm;
But keep the wolf far hence, that's foe to men,
For with his nails he'll dig them up again.

J. Webster.

CCCXIV

THE SHROUDING OF THE DUCHESS
OF MALFI

HARK! Now everything is still,

The screech-owl and the whistler shrill,

Call

upon our dame aloud,

And bid her quickly don her shroud!

Much you had of land and rent;
Your length in clay's now competent:
A long war disturb'd your mind;
Here your perfect peace is sign'd.

1 Lamentation.

URNS AND ODOURS BRING AWAY! 283

Of what is 't fools make such vain keeping?—
Sin their conception, their birth weeping,
Their life a general mist of error,

Their death a hideous storm of terror.
Strew your hair with powders sweet,
Don clean linen, bathe your feet,

And

the foul fiend more to check

A crucifix let bless your neck:

'Tis now full tide 'tween night and day; End your groan and come away.

J. Webster.

CCCXV

URNS AND ODOURS BRING AWAY!

URNS and odours bring away!
Vapours, sighs, darken the day!
Our dole1 more deadly looks than dying;
Balms and gums and heavy cheers,
Sacred vials filled with tears,

And clamours through the wild air flying!

Come, all sad and solemn shows,
That are quick-eyed Pleasure's foes!

We convent naught else but woes.

Shakespeare or Fletcher.

1 See note opposite.