266
THE SAD SHEPHERD.
Though I am young and cannot tell[1]
Either what Death or Love is well,
Yet I have heard they both bear darts,
And both do aim at human hearts:
And then again, I have been told,
Love wounds with heat, as Death with cold;
So that I fear they do but bring
Extremes to touch, and mean one thing.
Either what Death or Love is well,
Yet I have heard they both bear darts,
And both do aim at human hearts:
And then again, I have been told,
Love wounds with heat, as Death with cold;
So that I fear they do but bring
Extremes to touch, and mean one thing.
As in a ruin we it call
One thing to be blown up, or fall;
Or to our end, like way may have,
By flash of lightning, or a wave:
So Love's inflamed shaft or brand
May kill as soon as Death's cold hand
Except Love's fires the virtue have
To fright the frost out of the grave.
One thing to be blown up, or fall;
Or to our end, like way may have,
By flash of lightning, or a wave:
So Love's inflamed shaft or brand
May kill as soon as Death's cold hand
Except Love's fires the virtue have
To fright the frost out of the grave.
Æg. Do you think so? are you in that good heresy,
I mean, opinion? if you be, say nothing:
I'll study it as a new philosophy,
But by myself, alone: now you shall leave me.
Some of these nymphs here will reward you; this,
I mean, opinion? if you be, say nothing:
I'll study it as a new philosophy,
But by myself, alone: now you shall leave me.
Some of these nymphs here will reward you; this,
- ↑ Though I am young, &c] The modern prejudice against Jonson is strongly exemplified in the neglect of his minor poems. While even the worst of Shakspeare's pieces have been sought out with avidity (nay the silly trash which passes under his name, such as "When I was a little tiny boy," &c.) and set to music, a number of exquisite songs dispersed among the works of Jonson remain wholly unnoticed. "All is but fortune," as Stephano truly observes; and though it be too much perhaps to expect a Mus. Doc. to read for himself, yet he may fairly be expected to follow the fashion; and Jonson may yet have his turn. That he was not thus overlooked by the great composers of former times is certain; the song before us was set to music by Nicholas Lanncare, and inserted in the compilation of Ayres and Dialogues, by Henry Lawes, 1653.
