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N. BRETON.

PHILLIDA AND CORYDON.

IN

the merry month of May,
In a morn by break of day,
With a troop of damsels playing,
Forth I yode forsooth a maying.
When anon by a wood side,
Where that May was in his pride,
I espied, all alone,
Phillida and Corydon.
Much ado there was, God wot,
He would love and she would not;
She said, never man was true;
He says, none was false to you.
He said, he had lov'd her long;
She says, love should have no wrong.
Corydon would kiss her then;
She says, maids must kiss no men,
Till they do for good and all ;
When she made the shepherd call
All the heavens to witness truth
Never lov'd a truer youth;
Then with many a pretty oath,
Yea and nay, and faith and troth,
Such as seely shepherds use
When they will not love abuse;
Love that had been long deluded,
Was with kisses sweet concluded;
And Phillida with garlands gay,
Was made the lady of the May.

THE SHEPHERD'S ADDRESS TO HIS MUSE,
Goo
LO0D muse, rock me asleep

With some sweet harmony:
This weary eyes is not to keep

Thy wary company.

Sweet love, begone a while,

Thou seest my heaviness : Beauty is born but to beguile

My heart of happiness. See how my little flock,

That lov'd to feed on high, Do headlong tumble down the rock,

And in the valley die. The bushes and the trees,

That were so fresh avd green,
Do all their dainty colours leese,

And not a leaf is seen.
The black-bird and the thrush,

That made the woods to ring, With all the rest, are now at hush,

And not a note they sing. Sweet Philomel, the bird

That hath the heavenly throat,
Doth now, alas! not once afford

Recording of a note.
The flowers have had a frost,

The herbs have lost their savour; And Phillida the fair hath lost

For me her wonted favour.
Thus all these careful sights

So kill me in conceit,
That now to hope upon delights

It is but mere deceit.
And therefore, my sweet muse,

That know'st what help is best, Do now thy heavenly cunning use

To set my heart at rest. And in a dream bewray

What fate shall be my friend; Whether my life shall still decay,

Or when my sorrows end.

si ANONYMOUS. THE STU

Ř Ock. From Percy's Collection. - 4 THE sturdy rock, for all his strength,

By raging seas is rent in twain; s
The marble stone is pierc'd, at length,

With little drops of drizzling rain;
The ox doth yield unto the yoke,
The steel obeyeth the hammer stroke.
The stately stag, that seems so stout,

By yelping hounds at bay is set;
The swiftest bird that flies about,

At length is caught in fowler's net:
The greatest fish, in deepest brook,
Is soon deceived by subtle hook.
Yea, man himself, unto whose will

All things are bounden to obey,
For all his wit and worthy skill,

Doth fade at length, and fall away. There is nothing but time doth waste, The heav'ns, the earth, consume at last. But virtue sits triumphiog still

Upon the throne of glorious fame;
Though spiteful death man's body kill,

Yet hurts he not his virtuous name.
By life or death whate'er betides,
The state of virtue never slides.

THE PRAISE OF AMARGANA.
THE sún, the season, in each thing

Revives new pleasures; the sweet spring
Hath put to flight the winter keen,
To glad our lovely summer queen.

The paths where Amargana treads
With flow'ry tapestries Flora spreads,
And nature clothes the ground in green,
To glad our lovely summe

summer queen.
The groves put on their rich array:
With hawthorn-blooms embroider'd gay,
And sweet-perfumed with eglantine,
To glad our lovely summer queen.
The silent river stays his course,
Whilst, playing in the chrystal source,
The silver-scaled fish are seen
To glad our lovely summer queen.
The woods at her fair sight rejoice,
The little birds, with their loud voice,
In concert on the branches been,
To glad our lovely summer queen.
Great Pan, our god, for her dear sake,
This feast and meeting bids us make,
Of shepherd lads, and lasses sheen,
To glad our lovely summer queen.
And every swain his chance doth prove,
To win fair Amargana's love ;
In sporting strifes, quite void of spleen,
To glad our lovely summer. queen.

happiness fet Heav'n her lond, And all the Graces her attend;." Thus bid me pray the Muses nine, Long live our lovely summer queen.

C. MARLOW.

THE PASSIONATE SHEPHERD. COME live with me, and be my love,

And we will all the pleasures prove That hills and valleys, dale and field, And all the craggy mountains yield. There will we sit upon the rocks, And see the shepherds feed their flocks; By shallow rivers, to whose falls Melodious birds sing madrigals. There will I make thee beds of roses, With a thousand fragrant posies; A cap of flowers, and a kirtle, Embroider'd all with leaves of myrtle; A gown made of the finest wool, Which from our pretty lambs we pull; Slippers lin'd choicely for the cold, With buckles of the purest gold; A belt of straw and ivy bads, With coral clasps and amber studs : And if these pleasures may thee move, Then live with me, and be my love. The shepherd swains shall dance and sing, For thy delight, each May morning : If these delights thy mind may move, Then live with me, and be my love.