A LAND DIRGE

J. WEBSTER

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

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

To rear him hillocks that shall keep him warm,

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

ARIEL'S SONG

W. SHAKESPEARE

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!

ON THE LATE MASSACRE IN PIEDMONT

J. MILTON

AVENGE, O Lord! Thy slaughtered saints, whose bones
Lie scattered on the Alpine mountains cold;
Even them who kept Thy truth so pure of old
When all our fathers worshipped stocks and stones
Forget not: In Thy book record their groans
Who were Thy sheep, and in their ancient fold
Slain by the bloody Piemontese, that rolled
Mother with infant down the rocks. Their moans
The vales redoubled to the hills, and they
To Heaven. Their martyr'd blood and ashes sow
O'er all the Italian fields, where still doth sway
The triple Tyrant: that from these may grow
A hundred-fold, who, having learnt Thy way,
Early may fly the Babylonian woe.

J. FLETCHER

ASPATIA'S SONG

LAY a garland on my hearse

Of the dismal yew;

Maidens, willow branches bear;
Say, I died true.

My love was false, but I was firm
From my hour of birth.

Upon my buried body lie
Lightly, gentle earth!

CRABBED Age and Youth
Cannot live together:
Youth is full of pleasance,
Age is full of care;

Youth like summer morn,
Age like winter weather;
Youth like summer brave,
Age like winter bare.
Youth is full of sport,
Age's breath is short;

W. SHAKESPEARE

Youth is nimble, Age is lame;

Youth is hot and bold,

Age is weak and cold;

Youth is wild, and Age is tame.

Age, I do abhor thee;

Youth, I do adore thee;

O, my Love, my Love is young!
Age, I do defy thee:

O, sweet shepherd, hie thee!

For methinks thou stay'st too long.