THE BAIT. JOHN DONNE. Born 1574-Died 1631. Come live with me and be my love, There will the river whisp'ring run, When thou wilt swim in that live bath, If thou, to be so seen, be'st loath, Let others freeze with angling reeds, With strangling snares, or windowy net; * Walton, who was a good judge of fish, reads " enamell'd." Let coarse bold hands, from slimy nest, For thee thou need'st no such deceit, [From Donne's Works, 1635: it is in imitation of Marlowe's Shepherd's song. Isaak Walton, in his Angler, says, "I will speak yon a copy of verses that were made by Dr. Donne, and made to shew the world that he could make soft and smooth verses when he thought smoothness worth his labour; and I love them better, because they allude to rivers, fish, and fishing." Walton reckons them among the "choice verses of other days."] TO CELIA. BEN JONSON. Born 1574-Died 1637. Drink to me only with thine eyes, And I will pledge with mine, And I'll not look for wine: The thirst that from the soul doth rise, But might I of Jove's nectar sup, I would not change for thine. I sent thee late a rosy wreath, It could not wither'd be: But thou thereon didst only breathe, And sent'st it back to me, Since when it grows and smells, I swear, ["Of this song," says Ritson, "Anacreon, had Anacreon written in English, need not have been ashamed." Richard Cumberland tells us that the thoughts are poached from an "obscure collection of love letters, written by the sophist Philostratus." To those who are curious in Greek, we refer them to the Observer, No. lxxiv.; and Gifford's Ben Jonson, vol. 8, p. 267, where they will see the origin of this song explained in several pages. Jonson is certainly indebted for the idea to the old Greek, but who, save Jonson, could have rendered the thoughts so gracefully? Herrick wrote an address to "The Water Nymphs drinking at a fountain," much in the spirit of the first verse: Reach with your whiter hands to me Some crystal of the spring; And I about the cup shall see Fresh lilies flourishing: Or else, sweet nymphs, do you but this; And I shall see by that one kiss Mr. Gifford reads "hope." THE SWEET NEGLECT. BEN JONSON. Still to be neat, still to be drest, As you were going to a feast: Though art's hid causes are not found, Give me a look, give me a face, They strike mine eyes but not mine heart. It is in imitation of some Latin verses which the reader will find given in Mr. Gifford's edition of Jonson, vol. 3, p. 347. Flecknoe, the [This very fine song is found in the first act of the "Silent Woman." learned Editor tells us caught a gleam of sense from them: Give me the eyes, give me the face, Can ever make more fair, or less. Address to the Duchess of Richmond.] *Percy reads "that." D TO CELIA. BEN JONSON. Come, my Celia, let us prove, But the sweet thefts to reveal : To be taken, to be seen, These have crimes accounted been. [Sung in the Fox. Gifford calls it a "very elegant and happy imi tation of particular passages in Catullus."] |