She told him stories to delight his ear; She show'd him favours to allure his eye; To win his heart, she touch'd him here and there: But whether unripe years did want conceit, The tender nibbler would not touch the bait, But smile and jest at every gentle offer: Then fell she on her back, fair queen, and toward; 3. If love make me forsworn, how shall I swear to love? Which (not to anger bent) is music and sweet fire. Celestial as thou art, O do not love that wrong, To sing the heavens' praise with such an earthly tongue." 4. Scarce had the sun dried up the dewy morn, And scarce the herd gone to the hedge for shade, This Sonnet also occurs in Love's Labour's Lost,' in which copy there are variations in several lines. In the second we read, "Ah, never faith;" in the third, "faithful prove;" in the fourth, "were oaks;" in the sixth, "would comprehend;" in the eleventh, "lightning bears." The concluding lines are as follows: "Celestial as thou art, oh pardon, love, this wrong, That sings heaven's praise with such an earthly tongue." When Cytherea, all in love forlorn, A brook where Adon used to cool his spleen. He, spying her, bounc'd in, whereas he stood; 5. Fair is my love, but not so fair as fickle; A lily pale, with damask die to grace her, Her lips to mine how often hath she join❜d, She burn'd with love, as straw with fire flameth, Was this a lover, or a lecher whether? Bad in the best, though excellent in neither. 6. If music and sweet poetry agree, As they must needs, the sister and the brother, Then must the love be great 'twixt thee and me, VOL. XII. T Dowland to thee is dear, whose heavenly touch One god is god of both, as poets feign; One knight loves both, and both in thee remain. 7. Fair was the morn, when the fair queen of love,a Paler for sorrow than her milk-white dove, See in my thigh, quoth she, here was the sore: 8. Sweet rose, fair flower, untimely pluck'd, soon vaded,b Bright orient pearl, alack! too timely shaded! And falls, through wind, before the fall should be. a The second line is lost. b Vaded-faded. This form of the word often occurs in Shakspere, and has been too frequently changed in reprints. I weep for thee, and yet no cause I have; For why? thou left'st me nothing in thy will, yes, dear friend, I pardon crave of thee; Thy discontent thou didst bequeath to me. 9. Venus, with Adonis sitting by her, Under a myrtle shade, began to woo him: She told the youngling how god Mars did try her, Even thus, quoth she, the warlike god embrac'd me; And would not take her meaning nor her pleasure. 10. Crabbed age and youth Age like winter weather; This Sonnet is found in Fidessa,' by B. Griffin, 1596. There are great variations in that copy, for which see Illustrations. Amongst others we have the epithet young before Adonis. If we make a pause after Venus, the epithet is not necessary to the metre. The fourth line is given more metrically in Fidessa:' "And as he fell to her, so she fell to him." Youth is full of sport, Age's breath is short, Youth is nimble, age is lame: Age is weak and cold; Youth is wild, and age is tame. Youth, I do adore thee; O, my love, my love is young! O sweet shepherd, hie thee, For methinks thou stay'st too long. 11. Beauty is but a vain and doubtful good, A doubtful good, a gloss, a glass, a flower, And as goods lost are seld or never found, So beauty, blemish'd once, for ever's lost, 12. Good night, good rest. Ah! neither be my share: In the twenty-ninth volume of the Gentleman's Magazine' a copy of this poem is given, as from an ancient manuscript, in which there are the following variations : "And as goods lost are seld or never found, As faded gloss no rubbing will excite, |