SHEPHERD'S WIFE'S SONG Upon his couch of straw he sleeps as sound As doth a king upon his beds of down; 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 sithe; Where 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? Old Menalcas, on a day, Once was young and full of glee. As I lay and kept my sheep, Hand in hand with queen Desire, And with a dart that wounded nigh, With her face to feed mine eye; There I saw Desire sit, That my heart with love had hit, Laying forth bright beauty's hooks To entrap my gazing looks. THE PALMER'S ODE Love I did, and 'gan to woo, Coy she was, and I 'gan court; Was a brand of love's fire, Shook off Love, and made an oath Old I was when thus I fled Such fond toys as cloyed my head, But this I learned at Virtue's gate, The way to good is never late.” Sweet are the thoughts that savour of content; The quiet mind is richer than a crown; Sweet are the nights in careless slumber spent; The poor estate scorns fortune's angry frown; Such sweet content, such minds, such sleep, such bliss, Beggars enjoy, when princes oft do miss. The homely house that harbours quiet rest, The cottage that affords no pride nor care, The mean that 'grees with country music best, The sweet consort of mirth and music's fare, Obscured life sets down a type of bliss; is. Francis Bacon, Lord The World The world's a bubble and the life of man Less than a span; In his conception wretched, from the womb, So to the tomb; Curst from his cradle, and brought up to years With cares and fears. Who then to frail mortality shall trust But limns on water, or but writes in dust. Yet, whilst with sorrow here we live oppressed, |