subjects with considerable vigour and ability. Only five of his many plays are extant; but a number of his lovepamphlets and stories have been preserved, and these are interspersed with songs and pieces of verse, chiefly pastoral. He died in great poverty and friendlessness in 1592, leaving behind him a character for dissipation and ill-temper which is, however, somewhat belied by the grace and purity of his

verses.

SEPHESTIA'S SONG TO HER CHILD.1

Weep not, my wanton, smile upon my knee;
When thou art old there's grief enough for thee.
Mother's wag, pretty boy,

Father's sorrow, father's joy!
When thy father first did see
Such a boy by him and me,

He was glad, I was woe;

Fortune changèd made him so,
When he left his pretty boy,

Last his sorrow, first his joy!

Weep not, my wanton, smile upon my knee;
When thou art old there's grief enough for thee.
Streaming tears that never stint,
Like pearl-drops from a flint,
Fell by course from his eyes,
That one another's place supplies;
Thus he grieved in every part;

Tears of blood fell from his heart
When he left his pretty boy,
Father's sorrow, father's joy!

Weep not, my wanton, smile upon my knee;
When thou art old there's grief enough for thee.
The wanton smiled, father wept ;

Mother cried, baby leapt ;

More he crowed more we cried;

Nature could not sorrow hide.

He must go; he must kiss

Child and mother; baby bless;
For he left his pretty boy,

Father's sorrow, father's joy!

Weep not, my wanton, smile upon my knee;
When thou art old there's grief enough for thee.

THE SHEPHERD'S WIFE'S SONG.1

Ah, what is love? It is a pretty thing,
As sweet unto a shepherd as a king,
And sweeter too;

For kings have cares that wait upon a crown,
And cares can make the sweetest love to frown:
Ah then, ah then,

If country loves such sweet desires do gain,
What lady would not love a shepherd swain?

His flocks are folded; he comes home at night.
As merry as a king in his delight,

And merrier too;

For kings bethink them what the state require,
Where shepherds carol careless by the fire:
Ah then, ah then,

If country loves such sweet desires gain,
What lady would not love a shepherd swain?

He kisseth first, then sits as blithe to eat
His cream and curds as doth the king his meat,
And blither too ;

For kings have often fears when they do sup,
Where shepherds dread no poison in their cup:
Ah then, ah then,

If country loves such sweet desires gain,
What lady would not love a shepherd swain?

A VISIT FROM CUPID.2

Cupid abroad was lated in the night;

His wings were wet with ranging in the rain ; Harbour he sought; to me he took his flight To dry his plumes: I heard the boy complain, I op'd the door and granted his desire; I rose myself, and made the wag a fire.

Looking more narrow by the fire's flame,

I spied his quiver hanging by his back; Doubting the boy might my misfortune frame, I would have gone, for fear of further wrack. But what I drad3 did me, poor wretch, betide, For forth he drew an arrow from his side.

He pierced the quick, and I began to start;

A pleasing wound, but that it was too high;
His shaft procured a sharp yet sugared smart :
Away he flew, for-why his wings were dry,
But left the arrow sticking in my breast,
That sore I grieved I welcomed such a guest !

FAIR SAMELA.2

Like to Diana in her summer weed,
Girt with a crimson robe of brightest dye,
Goes fair Samela;

Whiter than be the flocks that straggling feed,
When, washed by Arethusa, faint they lie,
Is fair Samela.

As fair Aurora in her morning grey,
Decked with the ruddy glister of her love,
Is fair Samela.

Like lovely Thetis on a calmèd day,

Whenas3 her brightness Neptune's fancies move,
Shines fair Samela.

Her tresses gold, her eyes like glassy streams,
Her teeth are pearl, the breasts are ivory,
Of fair Samela;

Her cheeks like rose and lily yield forth gleams;
Her brows' bright arches framed of ebony:
Thus fair Samela

Passeth fair Venus in her bravest hue,
And Juno in the show of majesty-
(For she's Samela !)

Pallas in wit; all three, if you well view,
For beauty, wit, and matchless dignity,
Yield to Samela.

ABRAHAM FRAUNCE.

(1560 ?-1633?)

FRAUNCE, a native of Shropshire, was one of a clique of Cambridge men who, towards the close of the sixteenth century, advocated the use in

English poetry of the old

classic hexameters. At the head of this pedantic school was Gabriel Harvey (1545-1630?), a Fellow of Pembroke Hall, and the intimate friend of Spenser; and with him were associated Sir Philip, then Mr. Sidney, and Spenser himself. Spenser, who at one time experimented zealously in the ancient metre, soon freed himself from the tyranny of his friends, but Fraunce to the last adhered to his hexameters. His chief work was a poem called Emanuel in rhyming hexameters, 1591; but he also was the author of some pastoral verses entitled Lamentations of Corydon for the Love of Alexis, whence it is inferred that Spenser alluded to him in the lines,—

"And there is Corydon, though meanly wagèd,
Yet hablest wit of most I know this day."

"1

FROM EMANUEL.

66 THERE CAME WISE MEN FROM THE EAST."

Come fro the East, you Kings, and make acceptable off'ring; Come fro the East by the light of a blessed Star that ap

peareth,

And to the King of Jews your footsteps rightly directeth.
Lo, here lies your Lord: bow down, make peaceable off'ring,
Gold to the golden Babe, of golden time the beginning;
Frankincense and myrrh, to be sweet perfúmes to the sweetest
Child, that sweet sacrifíce, acceptable unto the Highest,
Sweet smelling sacrifíce, once offered only forever

For to appease God's wrath and His most infinite anger. Home to the East, you Kings, and bring the news to the godly,

God suff'réth for man, guiltléss condemned for a guilty: Home to the East, you Kings, and tell this abroad for a wonder,

"We have seen that Babe of a Virgin, laid in a manger." Home to the East, you Kings, and show that mighty resound

ing

Of those sweet Angéls, celestial harmony making.

1 See p. 226.

HENRY CONSTABLE.

(1561 ?-1610.)

THE writings of this poet consisted chiefly of Sonnets. Some of these, forming a series, and addressed to "Diana," were published in 1592, and again, with additions, in 1594. He also wrote some Spiritual Sonnets, and contributed Songs and pastoral pieces to England's Helicon, 1600, and to England's Parnassus.

FROM THE SONNETS.

A BEGGAR AT THE DOOR OF BEAUTY.

Pity refusing my poor Love to feed,

A beggar, starved for want of help, he lies;
And at your mouth, the door of beauty, cries
That thence some alms of sweet grants may proceed.
But, as he waiteth for some almès-deed,

A cherry-tree before the door he spies :

"O dear," quoth he, "two cherries may suffice,
Two only life may save in this my need."
But beggars can they nought but cherries eat?
Pardon my Love, he is a goddess' son,
And never feedeth but of dainty meat,

Else need he not to pine as he hath done :
For only the sweet fruit of this sweet tree
Can give food to my Love and life to me.

A SHEPHERD'S SONG.1

Diaphenia, like the daffa-down-dilly,
White as the sun, fair as the lily,
Heigh-ho, how I do love thee!

I do love thee as my lambs

Are beloved of their dams:

How blest were I if thou would'st prove me!

Diaphenia, like the spreading roses,
That in thy sweets all sweets incloses,
Fair sweet, how I do love thee!

I do love thee as each flower

Loves the sun's life-giving power,

For, dead, thy breath to life might move me.