Sed ne tempore non tuo disertam
Pulses ebria januam, videto.
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
Seras tutior ibis ad lucernas.
Hæc hora est tua, cum furit Lyæus,
Cum regnat rosa, cum madent capilli:
Tunc me vel rigidi legant Catones.
When laurel spirts i' th' fire. Burning bay leaves was a Christmas observance. Herrick sings:—
"Of crackling laurel, which foresounds
A plenteous harvest to your grounds":
where compare Tibull. II. v. 81-84. It was also used by maids as a love omen.
Thyrse ... sacred Orgies. Herrick's glosses show that the passage he had in mind was Catullus, lxiv. 256-269:—
Harum pars tecta quatiebant cuspide thyrsos
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
Pars obscura cavis celebrabant orgia cistis,
Orgia, quæ frustra cupiunt audire profani.
10. No man at one time can be wise and love. Amare et sapere vix deo conceditur. (Publius Syrus.) The quotation is found in both Burton and Montaigne.
12. Who fears to ask, etc. From Seneca, Hippol. 594-95. Qui timide rogat ... docet negare.
15. Goddess Isis ... with her scent. Cp. Plutarch, De Iside et Osiride, 15.
17. He acts the crime. Seneca: Nil interest faveas sceleri an illud facias.
18. Two things odious. From Ecclus. xxv. 2.
