The Golden Treasury. Unknown

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

           And 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,

           Fair-lined slippers for the cold,

           With buckles of the purest gold.

           A belt of straw and ivy-buds

           With coral clasps and amber studs:

           And if these pleasures may thee move,

           Come live with me and be my Love.

           Thy silver dishes for thy meat

           As precious as the gods do eat,

           Shall on an ivory table be

           Prepared each day for thee and me.

           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.

C. MARLOWE.

      6. A MADRIGAL

             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,

             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.

W. SHAKESPEARE.

      7

             Under the greenwood tree

             Who loves to lie with me,

             And tune his merry note

             Unto the sweet bird's throat—

           Come hither, come hither, come hither!

                Here shall we see

                No enemy

           But winter and rough weather.

             Who doth ambition shun

             And loves to live i' the sun,

             Seeking the food he eats

             And pleased with what he gets—

           Come hither, come hither, come hither!

                Here shall he see

                No enemy

           But winter and rough weather.

W. SHAKESPEARE.

      8

           It was a lover and his lass

             With a hey, and a ho, and a hey-nonino!

           That o'er the green cornfield did pass,

           In the spring time, the only pretty ring time,

           When birds do sing hey ding a ding:

             Sweet lovers love the Spring.

           Between the acres of the rye

           These pretty country folks would lie:

           This carol they began that hour,

           How that life was but a flower:

           And therefore take the present time

             With a hey, and a ho, and a hey-nonino!

           For love is crownéd with the prime

           In spring time, the only pretty ring time,

           When birds do sing, hey ding a ding;

             Sweet lovers love the Spring.

W. SHAKESPEARE.

      9. PRESENT IN ABSENCE

           Absence, hear thou my protestation

                Against thy strength,

                Distance, and length:

           Do what thou canst for alteration:

             For hearts of truest mettle

           Absence doth join, and Time doth settle.

           Who loves a mistress of such quality,

                He soon hath found

                Affection's ground

           Beyond time, place, and all mortality.

             To hearts that cannot vary

           Absence is Presence, Time doth tarry.

           By absence this good means I gain,

                That I can catch her,

                Where none can watch her,

           In some close corner of my brain:

             There I embrace and kiss her,

           And so I both enjoy and miss her.

ANON.

      10. ABSENCE

           Being your slave what should I do but tend

           Upon the hours and times of your desire?

           I have no precious time at all to spend,

           Nor services