She feedeth on the steam as on a prey,
And calls it heavenly moisture, air of grace;
Wishing her cheeks were gardens full of
flowers,
[showers.
So they were dew'd with such distilling

Look, how a bird lies tangled in a net,
So fasten'd in her arms Adonis lies;
Pure shame and awed resistance made him fret,

Which bred more beauty in his angry eyes: 70

Rain added to a river that is rank
Perforce will force it overflow the bank.

Still she entreats, and prettily entreats,
For to a pretty ear she tunes her tale;
Still is he sullen, still he lours and frets,
"Twixt crimson shame and anger ashy-pale:
Being red, she loves him best: and being
white,

8

Her best is better'd with a more delight.
Look how he can, she cannot choose but love;
And by her fair immortal hand she swears,
From his soft bosom never to remove,
Till he take truce with her contending tears,
Which long have rain'd, making her cheeks
all wet;
[debt.
And one sweet kiss shall pay this countless
Upon this promise did he raise his chin,
Like a dive-dapper peering through a wave,
Who, being look'd on, ducks as quickly in;
So offers he to give what she did crave;

But when her lips were ready for his pay,
He winks, and turns his lips another way. 90

Never did passenger in summer's heat [turn.
More thirst for drink than she for this good
Her help she sees, but help she cannot get;'
She bathes in water, yet her fire must burn:

O, pity,gan she cry, flint-hearted boy! 'Tis but a kiss I beg: why art thou coy? 'I have been woo'd, as I entreat thee now, Even by the stern and direful god of war, Whose sinewy neck in battle ne'er did bow, Who conquers where he comes in every jar, 100 Yet hath he been my captive and my slave, And begg'd for that which thou unask'd shalt have.

'Over my altars hath he hung his lance, His batter'd shield, his uncontrolled crest, And for my sake hath learn'd to sport and dance,

To toy, to wanton, dally, smile and jest,

Scorning his churlish drum and ensign red, Making my arms his field, his tent my bed. Thus he that overruled I oversway'd, Leading him prisoner in a red-rose chain: Strong-tempered steel his stronger strength obey'd,

Yet was he servile to my coy disdain.

110

O, be not proud, nor brag not of thy might, For mastering her that foil'd the god of fight! "Touch but my lips with those fair lips of thine,Though mine be not so fair, yet are they red,The kiss shall be thine own as well as mine. What seest thou in the ground? hold up thy head:

Look in mine eyeballs, there thy beauty lies; Then why not lips on lips, since eyes in eyes? 'Art thou ashamed to kiss? then wink again, 121 And I will wink; so shall the day seem night; Love keeps his revels where there are but twain; Be bold to play, our sport is not in sight:

These blue-vein'd violets whereon we lean Never can blab, nor know not what we mean. The tender spring upon thy tempting lip Shows thee uuripe; yet mayst thou well be tasted:

Make use of time, let not advantage slip; Beauty within itself should not be wasted: 130 Fair flowers that are not gather'd in their

My beauty as the spring doth yearly grow, My flesh is soft and plump, my marrow burning; [hand felt, My smooth moist hand, were it with thy Would in thy palm dissolve, or seem to melt. 'Bid me discourse, I will enchant thine ear, Or, like a fairy, trip upon the green, Or, like a nymph, with long dishevell'd hair, Dance on the sands, and yet no footing seen: Love is a spirit all compact of fire, 149 Not gross to sink, but light, and will aspire, 'Witness this primrose bank whereon I lie; These forceless flowers like sturdy trees support [the sky, Two strengthless doves will draw me through From morn till night, even where I list to sport

me;

me:

Is love so light, sweet boy, and may it be That thou shouldst think it heavy unto thee? 'Is thine own heart to thine own face affected? Can thy right hand seize love upon thy left? Then woo thyself, be of thyself rejected, Steal thine own freedom and complain on theft. Narcissus so himself himself forsook, 161 And died to kiss his shadow in the brook. 'Torches are made to light, jewels to wear, Dainties to taste, fresh beauty for the use, Herbs for their smell, and sappy plants to bear: Things growing to themselves are growth's abuse: [beauty; Seeds spring from seeds and beauty breedeth Thou wast begot; to get it is thy duty.

'Upon the earth's increase why shouldst thou feed,

Unless the earth with thy increase be fed? 170
By law of nature thou art bound to breed,
That thine may live when thou thyself art dead;

And so, in spite of death, thou dost survive, In that thy likeness still is left alive.'

180

By this the love-sick queen began to sweat,
For where they lay the shadow had forsook
And Titan, tired in the mid-day heat, [them,
With burning eye did hotly overlook them:
Wishing Adonis had his team to guide,
So he were like him and by Venus side.
And now Adonis, with a lazy spright,
And with a heavy, dark, disliking eye.
His louring brows o'erwelming his fair sight,
Like misty vapors when they blot the sky,
Souring his cheeks cries Fie, no more of love!
The sun doth burn my face; I must remove.
'Ay me,' quoth Venus, 'young, and so unkind?
What bare excuses makest thou to be gone!
I'll sigh celestial breath, whose gentle wind
Shall cool the heat of this descending sun: 190
I'll make a shadow for thee of my hairs; [tears.
If they burn too, I'll quench them with my
"The sun that shines from heaven shines but warm,
And, lo, I lie between that sun and thee:
The heat I have from thence doth little harm,
Thine eye darts forth the fire that burneth me;
And were I not immortal, life were done
Between this heavenly and earthly sun.

'Art thou obdurate, flinty, hard as steel,
Nay, more than flint, for stone at rain relenteth?
Art thou a woman's son, and canst not feel 200
What 'tis to love? how want of love tormenteth?
O, had thy mother borne so hard a mind,
She had not brought forth thee, but died un-
kind.

'What am I, that thou shouldst contemn me this?
Or what great danger dwells upon my suit?
What were thy lips the worse for one poor kiss?
Speak, fair, but speak fair words, or else be mute:
Give me one kiss, I'll give it thee again, 209
And one for interest, if thou wilt have twain.
'Fie, lifeless picture, cold and senseless stone,
Well-painted idol, image dull and dead,
Statue contenting but the eye alone,
Thing like a man, but of no woman bred! [ion,
Thou art no man, though of a man's complex-
For men will kiss even by their own direction.'
This said, impatience chokes her pleading
tongue,

And swelling passion doth provoke a pause:
Red cheeks and fiery eyes blaze forth her wrong,
Being judge in love, she cannot right her cause:
And now she weeps, and now she fain would
speak,

221

And now her sobs do her intendments break. Sometimes she shakes her head and then his hand,

Now gazeth she on him, now on the ground; Sometimes her arms infold him like a band: She would, he will not in her arms be bound;

And when from thence he struggles to be gone, She locks her lily fingers one in one. 'Fondling,' she saith, 'since I have hemm'd thee here

Within the circuit of this ivory pale,

230

I'll be a park, and thou shalt be my
deer:
Feed where thou wilt, on mountain or in dale:
Graze on my lips; and if those hills be dry,
Stray lower, where the pleasant fountains lie.
Within this limit is relief enough,

Sweet bottom-grass, and high delightful plain,
Round rising hillocks, brakes obscure and rough,
To shelter thee from tempest and from rain:
Then be my deer, since I am such a park;
No dog shall rouse thee, though a thousand
bark."

240

At this Adonis smiles as in disdain,
That in each cheek appears a pretty dimple:
Love made those hollows, if himself were slain,
He might be buried in a tomb so simple;
Foreknowing well, if there he came to lie.
Why, there Love lived and there he could
not die.

These lovely caves, these round enchanting pits
Open'd their mouths to swallow Venus' liking
Being mad before, how doth she now for wits.
Struck dead atfirst, what needs a second striking?

Poor queen of love, in thine own law forlorn, To love a cheek that smiles at thee in scorn! Now which way shall she turn? what shall she say? [ing; Her words are done, her woes the more increasThe time is spent, her object will away, And from her twining arms doth urge releasing 'Pity,' she cries.' some favor, some remorse!' Away he springs and hasteth to his horse. But, lo, from forth a copse that neighbors by, A breeding jennet, lusty, young and proud, 260 Adonis' trampling courser doth espy, And forth she rushes, snorts and neighs aloud: The strong-neck'd steed, being tied unto a

tree,

Breaketh his rein, and to her straight goes he. Imperiously he leaps, he neighs, he bounds, And now his woven girths he breaks asunder, The bearing earth with his hard hoof he wounds, Whose hollow womb resounds like heaven's thunder;

The iron bit he crusheth 'tween his teeth,

Controlling what he was controlled with. 270 His ears up-prick'd; his braided hanging mane Upon his compass'd crest now stand on end; His nostrils drink the air, and forth again, As from a furnace, vapors doth he send:

His eye, which scornfully glisters like fire, Shows his hot courage and his high desire. Sometime he trots, as if he told the steps, With gentle majesty and modest pride; Anon he rears upright, curvets and leaps, As who should say 'Lo, thus my strength is tried,

280

And this I do to captivate the eye Of the fair breeder that is standing by." His flattering 'Holla,' or his 'Stand, f What recketh he his rider's angry stir, say What cares he now for curb or pricking spur? For rich caparisons or trapping gay? He sees his love, and nothing else he sees, For nothing else with his proud sight agrees.

Sometime he scuds far off, and there he stares;
Anon he starts at stirring of a feather;
To bid the wind a base he now prepares,
And whether he run or fly they know not
whether;

For through his mane and tail the high wind sings, wings. Fanning the hairs, who wave like feather'd

He looks upon his love and neighs unto her,
She answers him as if she knew his mind:
Being proud, as females are, to see him woo her,
She puts on outward strangeness, seems unkind,
Spurns at his love and scorns the heat he feels,
Beating his kind embracements with her heels.

Then, like a melancholy malcontent,
He veils his tail that, like a falling plume,
Cool shadow to his melting buttock lent:
He stamps and bites the poor flies in his fume.
His love, perceiving how he is enraged,
Grew kinder, and his fury was assuaged.
His testy master goeth about to take him;
When, lo, the unback'd breeder, full of fear, 320
Jealous of catching, swiftly doth forsake him,
With her the horse, and left Adonis there:
As they were mad, unto the wood they hie
them,
[them.
Out-stripping crows that strive to over-fly

All swoln with chafing, down Adonis sits,
Banning his boisterous and unruly beast:
And now the happy season once more fits,
That love-sick Love by pleading may be blest:
For lovers say, the heart hath treble wrong
When it is barr'd the aidance of the tongue.

331

An oven that is stopp'd, or river stay'd,
Burneth more hotly, swelleth with more rage:
So of concealed sorrow may be said;
Free vent of words love's fire doth assuage:

But when the heart's attorney once is mute,
The client breaks, as desperate in his suit.

He sees her coming, and begins to glow,
Even as a dying coal revives with wind,
And with his bonnet hides his angry brow;
Looks on the dull earth with disturbed mind, 340
Taking no notice that she is so nigh,
For all askance he holds her in his eye.

O, what a sight it was, wistly to view
How she came stealing to the wayward boy!

Full gently now she takes him by the hand, 361
A lily prison'd in a jail of snow,
Or ivory in an alabaster band;
So white a friend engirts so white a foe:

This beauteous combat, wilful and unwilling, Show'd like two silver doves that sit a-billing. Once more the engine of her thoughts began: fairest mover on this mortal round, Would thou wert as I am, and I a man, 369 My heart all whole as thine,thy heart my wound: For one sweet look thy help I would assure thee, [cure thee.' Though nothing but my body's bane would

'Give me my hand,' saith he, 'why dost thou feel it?' [have it; 'Give me my heart,' saith she, 'and thou shalt O, give it me, lest thy hard heart do steel it. And being steel'd, soft sighs can never grave it:

Then love's deep groans I never shall regard, Because Adonis' heart hath made mine hard.

'How like a jade he stood, tied to the tree, 391
Servilely master'd with a leathern rein!
But when be saw his love, his youth's fair fee,
He held such petty bondage in disdain. (crest,
Throwing the base thong from his bending
Enfranchising his mouth, his back, his breast.
'Who sees his true-love in her naked bed,
Teaching the sheets a whiter hue than white,
But, when his glutton eye so full hath fed,
His other agents aim at like delight?

400

O, learn to love; the lesson is but plain,
And once made perfect, never lost again.'

'I know not love,' quoth he, 'nor will not know it,
Unless it be a boar, and then I chase it; 410
'Tis much to borrow, and I will not owe it:
My love to love is love but to disgrace it;

For I have heard it is a life in death, [breath. That laughs and weeps, and all but with a 'Who wears a garment shapeless and unfinish'd? Who plucks the bud before one leaf put forth? If springing things be any jot diminish'd, They wither in their prime, prove nothing worth; The colt that's back'd and burden'd being young

Loseth his pride and never waxeth strong. 420

"You hurt my hand with wringing: let us part, And leave this idle theme, this bootless chat: Remove your siege from my unyielding heart; To love's alarms it will not ope the gate: Dismiss your vows, your feigned tears, your flattery; [tery.' For where a heart is hard they make no bat

'What! canst thou talk?' quoth she, 'hast thou a tongue?

O, would thou hadst not, or I had no hearing' Thymermaid's voice hath done me doublewrong; I had my load before, now press'd with bearing: Melodious discord, heavenly tune harshsounding,

431

Ear's deep sweet music, and heart's deep-sore wounding.

Had I no eyes but ears, my ears would love That inward beauty and invisible, Or were I deaf, thy outward parts would move Each part in me that were but sensible:

Though neither eyes nor ears, to hear nor see, Yet should I be in love by touching thee.

'Say, that the sense of feeling were bereft me, And that I could not see, nor hear, nor touch, 440 And nothing but the very smell were left me, Yet would my love to thee be still as much;

For from the stillitory of thy face excelling Comes breath perfumed that breedeth love by

smelling.

'But, O, what banquet wert thou to the taste, Being nurse and feeder of the other four! Would they not wish the feast might ever last, And bid suspicion double-lock the door,

Lest Jealousy, that sour unwelcome guest, 449 Should, by his stealing in, disturb the feast?"

Once more the ruby-color'd portal open'd, Which to his speech did honey passage yield; Like a red morn, that ever yet betoken'd Wreck to the seaman, tempest to the field,

460

Sorrow to shepherds, woe unto the birds,
Gusts and foul flaws to herdmen and to herds.
This ill presage advisedly she marketh:
Even as the wind is hush'd before it raineth,
Or as the wolf doth grin before he barketh,
Or as the berry breaks before it staineth,
Or like the deadly bullet of a gun,
His meaning struck her ere his words begun.
And at his look she flatly falleth down,
For looks kill love, and love by looks reviveth;
A smile recures the wounding of a frown:
But blessed bankrupt, that by love so thriveth!
The silly boy, believing she is dead,
Claps her pale cheek, till clapping makes it red;
And all amazed brake off his late intent,
For sharply did he think to reprehend her, 470
Which cunning love did wittily prevent:
Fair fall the wit that can so well defend her!

For on the grass she lies as she were slain,
Till his breath breatheth life in her again.

480

He wrings her nose, he strikes her on the cheeks,
He bends her fingers, holds her pulses hard,
He chafes her lips; a thousand ways he seeks
To mend the hurt that his unkindness marr'd:
He kisses her; and she, by her good will,
Will never rise, so he will kiss her still.
The night of sorrow now is turn'd to day:
Her two blue windows faintly she up-heaveth,
Like the fair sun, when in his fresh array
He cheers the morn, and all the earth relieveth;
And as the bright sun glorifies the sky,
So is her face illumined with her eye;
Whose beams upon his hairless face are fix'd,
As if from thence they borrow'd all their shine.
Were never four such lamps together mix'd,
Had not his clouded with his brow's repine: 490
But hers, which through the crystal tears
gave light,

Shone like the moon in water seen by night.

O, where am I?' quoth she, 'in earth or heaven,

Or in the ocean drench'd, or in the fire?
What hour is this? or morn, or weary even?
Do I delight to die, or life desire?

But now I lived, and life was death's annoy;
But now I died, and death was lively joy.

O, thou didst kill me: kill me once again. 199 Thy eyes' shrewd tutor, that hard heart of thine, Hath taught them scornful tricks and such disdain

That they have murder'd this poor heart of mine:
And these mine eyes, trucleaders to theirqueen,
But for thy piteous lips no more had seen.

Long may they kiss each other, for this cure!
O, never let their crimson liveries wear!
And as they last, their verdure still endure,
To drive infection from the dangerous year!
That the star-gazers, having writ on death, 509
May say, the plague is banished by thy breath.

'Pure lips, sweet seals in my soft lips imprinted, What bargains may I make, still to be sealing?