se.
But since I'm call'd, rare Denham, to be gone,
Take from thy Herrick this conclusion:
'Tis dignity in others, if they be
Crown'd poets, yet live princes under thee;
The while their wreaths and purple robes do shine
Less by their own gems than those beams of thine.
_Paean-gardens_, gardens sacred to Apollo.
_Nicely_, fastidiously.
674. A HYMN TO THE LARES.
It was, and still my care is,
To worship ye, the Lares,
With crowns of greenest parsley
And garlic chives, not scarcely;
For favours here to warm me,
And not by fire to harm me;
For gladding so my hearth here
With inoffensive mirth here;
That while the wassail bowl here
With North-down ale doth troul here,
No syllable doth fall here
To mar the mirth at all here.
For which, O chimney-keepers!
(I dare not call ye sweepers)
So long as I am able
To keep a country table,
Great be my fare, or small cheer,
I'll eat and drink up all here.
_Troul_, pass round.
675. DENIAL IN WOMEN NO DISHEARTENING TO MEN.
Women, although they ne'er so goodly make it,
Their fashion is, but to say no, to take it.
676. ADVERSITY.
_Love is maintain'd by wealth_; when all is spent,
_Adversity then breeds the discontent_.
677. TO FORTUNE.
Tumble me down, and I will sit
Upon my ruins, smiling yet;
Tear me to tatters, yet I'll be
Patient in my necessity.
Laugh at my scraps of clothes, and shun
Me, as a fear'd infection;
Yet, scare-crow-like, I'll walk as one
Neglecting thy derision.
678. TO ANTHEA.
Come, Anthea, know thou this,
_Love at no time idle is_;
Let's be doing, though we play
But at push-pin half the day;
Chains of sweet bents let us make
Captive one, or both, to take:
In which bondage we will lie,
Souls transfusing thus, and die.
_Push-pin_, a childish game in which one player placed a pin and the
other pushed it.
_Bents_, grasses.
679. CRUELTIES.
Nero commanded; but withdrew his eyes
From the beholding death and cruelties.
680. PERSEVERANCE.
Hast thou begun an act? ne'er then give o'er:
_No man despairs to do what's done before_.
681. UPON HIS VERSES.
What offspring other men have got,
The how, where, when, I question not.
These are the children I have left,
Adopted some, none got by thef
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