makes_ me _sprightful, airy_ to be borne,
Like Iphyclus, upon the tops of corn.
_Sack makes_ me nimble, as the winged hours,
To dance and caper _o'er the tops_ of flowers,
And ride the sunbeams. Can there be a thing
Under the _cope of heaven_ that can bring
More _joy_ unto my _soul_, or can present
My Genius with a fuller blandishment?
Illustrious Idol! _Can_ the Egyptians seek
Help from the garlick, onion and the leek,
And pay no vows to thee, who _art the_ best
God, and far more _transcending_ than the rest?
Had Cassius, that weak water-drinker, known
Thee in _the_ Vine, or had but tasted one
Small chalice of thy _nectar, he, even_ he
As the wise Cato had approved of thee.
Had not Jove's son, the _rash_ Tyrinthian swain
(Invited to the Thesbian banquet), ta'ne
Full goblets of thy [+] blood; his *_lustful_ sprite
_Had not_ kept heat for fifty maids that night.
+As Queens meet Queens, _so let sack come to_ me
_Or_ as Cleopatra _unto_ Anthonie,
When her high _visage_ did at once present
To the Triumvir love and wonderment.
Swell up my _feeble sinews_, let my blood
+Fill each part full of fire,* _let all my good_
_Parts be encouraged_, active to do
What thy commanding soul shall put _me_ to,
And till I turn apostate to thy love,
Which here I vow to serve, _never_ remove
Thy _blessing_ from me; but Apollo's curse
Blast _all mine_ actions; or, a thing that's worse,
When these circumstants _have the fate_ to see
The time _when_ I prevaricate from thee,
Call me the Son of Beer, and then confine
Me to the tap, the toast, the turf; let wine
Ne'er shine upon me; _let_ my _verses_ all
_Haste_ to a sudden death and funeral:
And last, _dear Spouse, when I thee_ disavow,
_May ne'er_ prophetic Daphne crown my brow."
Certainly this manuscript version is in every way inferior to that
printed in the _Hesperides_, and Herrick must be reckoned among the
poets who are able to revise their own work.
_The smoky chimneys of his Ithaca._ Ovid, I. _de Ponto_, ix. 265:--
Non dubia est Ithaci prudentia sed tamen optat
Fumum de patriis posse videre focis.
_Upon the tops of corn._ Virgil (_AEn._ vii. 808-9) uses the same
comparison of Camilla: Illa vel intactae segetis per summa volaret
Gramina, nec teneras cursu laesisset aristas.
_Could the Egyptians seek Help
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