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CXXVIII.

THE CONSTANT LOVER.

OUT upon it! I have loved
Three whole days together,
And am like to love three more,
If it prove fair weather.

Time shall mould away his wings

E'er he shall discover,

In the wide world again,

Such a constant lover.

But the spite on't is, no praise
At all is due to me :

Love with me had made no stays,

Had it any been but she.

Had it any been but she,

And that very face,

There had been at least ere this

A dozen dozen in her place.

Sir John Suckling.

CXXIX.

LOVE'S CONFESSION.

WHEN slumber first unclouds my brain,
And thought is free,

And sense refreshed renews her reign,—
I think of thee.

When next in prayer to God above
I bend my knee,

Then when I pray for those I love,—
I pray for thee.

And when the duties of the day
Demand of me

To rise and journey on life's way,—
I work for thee.

Or if, perchance, I sing some lay,
Whate'er it be ;

All that the idle verses say,

They say of thee.

If of an eye whose liquid light
Gleams like the sea,

They sing, or tresses brown and bright,-
They sing of thee.

And if a weary mood, or sad,

Possesses me,

One thought can all times make me glad,--
The thought of thee.

And when once more upon my bed,
Full wearily,

In sweet repose I lay my head,—
I dream of thee.

In short, one only wish I have,
To live for thee;

Or gladly if one pang would save,

I'd die for thee.

Anonymous.

CXXX.

EXCHANGE OF LOVE.

MY HEART AND HIS.

My 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 heart in him his thoughts and senses guides: He loves my heart, for once it was his own;

I cherish his because in me it bides :

My true love hath my heart, and I have his.

Sir Philip Sidney.

CXXXI.

EXCHANGE OF LOVE.

WHAT THE LARK SAYS.

Do you ask what the birds say? The sparrow, the dove,

The linnet and thrush say, "I love and I love!"
In the winter they're silent-the wind is so strong;
What it says I don't know, but it sings a loud song.
But green leaves, and blossoms, and sunny warm
weather,

And singing and loving-all come back together.
But the lark is so brimful of gladness and love,
The green fields below him, the blue sky above,

That he sings and he sings, and for ever sings he--

་་

'I love my love, and my love loves me!"

Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

CXXXII.

LOVE'S PROTESTATION.

GLORYING IN LOVE.

SOME glory in their birth, some in their skill,
Some in their wealth, some in their bodies' force,

Some in their garments, though new-fangled ill,
Some in their hawks and hounds, some in their horse;
And every humour hath its adjunct pleasure,

Wherein it finds a joy above the rest :

But these particulars are not my measure,
All these I better in one general best.

Thy love is better than high birth to me,

Richer than wealth, prouder than garments' cost, Of more delight than hawks or horses be;

And having thee, of all men's pride I boast; Wretched in this alone, that thou mayst take All this away and me most wretched make. William Shakespeare.

CXXXIII.

LOVE'S PROTESTATION.

BEING HER SLAVE.

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 to do, till you require :

Nor dare I chide the world-without-end-hour

Whilst I, my sovereign, watch the clock for you,

Nor think the bitterness of absence sour

When you have bid your servant once adieu : Nor dare I question with my jealous thought Where you may be, or your affairs suppose,

But like a sad slave, stay and think of nought

Save, where you are, how happy you make those ;So true a fool is love, that in your will, Though you do anything, he thinks no ill.

CXXXIV.

William Shakespeare.

LOVE'S PROTESTATION.

HIS HOME OF LOVE.

O NEVER say that I was false of heart,
Though absence seemed my flame to qualify :

As easy might I from myself depart

As from my soul, which in thy breast doth lie;
That is my home of love; if I have ranged,

Like him that travels, I return again,
Just to the time, not with the time exchanged,
So that myself bring water for my stain.

H

Never believe, though in my nature reigned
All frailties that besiege all kinds of blood,
That it could so preposterously be stained

To leave for nothing all thy sum of good :
For nothing this wide universe I call,
Save thou, my rose in it thou art my all.

CXXXV.

William Shakespeare.

LOVE'S PROTESTATION.

ETERNITY OF LOVE PROTESTED.

FIRST shall the heavens want starry light;
The seas be robbed of their waves;
The day want sun, and sun want bright;
The night want shade, the dead men graves;
The April flowers and leaf and tree,

Before I false my faith to thee.

First shall the tops of highest hills
By humble plains be overpried,
And poets scorn the Muses' quills,

And fish forsake the water glide,
And Iris lose her coloured weed,
Before I fail thee at thy need.

First direful Hate shall turn to Peace,
And Love relent in deep disdain,
And Death his fatal stroke shall cease,
And Envy pity every pain,

And Pleasure mourn, and Sorrow smile,

Before I talk of any guile.

First Time shall slay his slayless race,

And Winter bless his brows with corn,

And snow bemoisten July's face,

And Winter, Spring, and Summer mourn, Before my pen, by help of Fame,

Cease to recite thy sacred name.

Thomas Lodge.

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