XXII TO AURORA IF thou knew'st how thou thyself dost harm, And dust prejudge thy bliss, and spoil my, rest; Then thou wouldst melt the ice out of thy breast O if thy pride did not our joys controul, Then all my thoughts should in thy visage shine, And whilst we thus should make our sorrows one, W. Alexander, Earl of Sterline L XXIII TRUE LOVE ET me not to the marriage of true minds Admit impediments. Love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds, Or bends with the remover to remove :— O no! it is an ever-fixéd mark That looks on tempests, and is never shaken; It is the star to every wandering bark Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken. Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks If this be error, and upon me proved, W. Shakespeare MY XXIV A DITTY Y true-love hath my heart, and I have his, By just exchange one to the other given : I hold his dear, and mine he cannot miss, There never was a better bargain driven : My true-love hath my heart, and I have his. His heart in me keeps him and me in one, My true-love hath my heart, and I have his. Sir P. Sidney XXV LOVE'S OMNIPRESENCE VERE I as base as is the lowly plain, WER yas, above, Yet should the thoughts of me your humble swain Were I as high as heaven above the plain, Were you the earth, dear Love, and I the skies, Whereso'er I am, below, or else above you, 7. Sylvester XXVI O CARPE DIEM MISTRESS mine, where are you roaming? O stay and hear! your true-love 's coming That can sing both high and low; Trip no further, pretty sweeting, Journeys end in lovers' meeting Every wise man's son doth know. What is love? 't is not hereafter; In delay there lies no plenty, Then come kiss me, Sweet-and-twenty, W. Shakespeare W XXVII WINTER HEN icicles hang by the wall And Dick the shepherd blows his nail, And Tom bears logs into the hall, And milk comes frozen home in pail ; Tuwhit! tuwhoo! A merry note! When all around the wind doth blow, And Marian's nose looks red and raw; Tuwhit! tuwhoo! A merry note! While greasy Joan doth keel the pot. XXVIII W. Shakespeare HAT time of year thou may'st in me behold THA When yellow leaves, or none, or few do hang Upon those boughs which shake against the cold, Bare ruin'd choirs, where late the sweet birds sang. In me thou seest the twilight of such day As after sunset fadeth in the west, Which by and by black night doth take away, In me thou seest the glowing of such fire, As the deathbed whereon it must expire, Consumed with that which it was nourish'd by: This thou perceiv'st, which makes thy love more strong, To love that well which thou must leave erelong. W. Shakespeare W XXIX REMEMBRANCE HEN to the sessions of sweet silent thought I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought, Then can I drown an eye, unused to flow, Then can I grieve at grievances foregone, - But if the while I think on thee, dear friend, All losses are restored, and sorrows end. W. Shakespeare |