And for no less than aromatic wine
Of maiden's blush commix'd with jessa-
mine.

Clean was the hearth, the mantel larded

jet;

Which wanting Lar, and smoke, hung weep

ing wet;

At last, i' th' noon of winter, did appear
A ragg'd sous'd neat's foot with sick

vinegar,

And in a burnish'd flagonet stood by
Beer small as comfort, dead as charity.
At which amaz'd, and pondering on the
food,

How cold it was, and how it chill'd my blood,
I curs'd the master, and I damn'd the

souse,

And swore I'd got the ague of the house. Well, when to eat thou dost me next de

sire,

I'll bring a fever, since thou keep'st no

fire.

197

A CONJURATION TO ELECTRA

By those soft tods of wool
With which the air is full;
By all those tinctures there,
That paint the hemisphere;

By dews and drizzling rain
That swell the golden grain;
By all those sweets that be
I' th' flowery nunnery;
By silent nights, and the
Three forms of Hecate;
By all aspects that bless
The sober sorceress,

While juice she strains, and pith,
To make her philters with;
By Time that hastens on
Things to perfection;
And by yourself, the best
Conjurement of the rest:
O my Electra! be

In love with none but me.

198

VERSES

WHO will not honor noble numbers, when Verses outlive the bravest deeds of men?

199

ORPHEUS

ORPHEUS he went, as poets tell,

To fetch Eurydice from Hell,
And had her; but it was upon
This short but strict condition:

Backward he should not look while he
Led her through Hell's obscurity.
But ah! it happened, as he made

His passage through that dreadful shade,
Revolve he did his loving eye,

For gentle fear or jealousy;

And looking back, that look did sever
Him and Eurydice forever.

200

TO SAPPHO

SAPPHO, I will choose to go

Where the northern winds do blow
Endless ice and endless snow,
Rather than I once would see

But a winter's face in thee
To benumb my hopes and me.

201

THE BRIDE-CAKE

THIS day, my Julia, thou must make
For Mistress Bride the wedding-cake:
Knead but the dough, and it will be
To paste of almonds turn'd by thee;
Or kiss it thou but once or twice,
And for the bride-cake they'll be spice.

202

BURIAL

MAN may want land to live in; but for all Nature finds out some place for burial.

203

THE CLOUD

SEEST thou that cloud that rides in state,
Part ruby-like, part candidate?

It is no other than the bed
Where Venus sleeps half smothered.

204

THE AMBER BEAD

I SAW a fly within a bead
Of amber clearly buried;

The urn was little, but the room
More rich than Cleopatra's tomb.

205

THE TRANSFIGURATION

IMMORTAL clothing I put on
So soon as, Julia, I am gone
To mine eternal mansion.

Thou, thou art here, to human sight Cloth'd all with incorrupted light; But yet how more admir'dly bright

Wilt thou appear, when thou art set
In thy refulgent thronelet,

That shin'st thus in thy counterfeit!

206

TO DIANEME

I COULD but see thee yesterday
Stung by a fretful bee;

And I the javelin suck'd away,

And heal'd the wound in thee.

A thousand thorns and briers and stings I have in my poor breast;

Yet ne'er can see that salve which brings My passions any rest.

As love shall help me, I admire
How thou canst sit and smile
To see me bleed, and not desire
To stanch the blood the while.

If thou, compos'd of gentle mold,
Art so unkind to me

What dismal stories will be told
Of those that cruel be?