CHARLES COTTON. (1630-1687.) ODE: LAURA SLEEPING. From his Poems on Several Occasions, 1689, reprinted in Chalmers' Poets, vol. vi. WINDS, whisper gently whilst she sleeps, And fan her with your cooling wings; Glide over beauty's field, her face, Play in her beams, and crisp her hair, As breathes from the Arabian grove. A breath as hushed as lover's sigh, Murmur soft music to her dreams, But when she waking shall display Her light, retire within your bar: Her breath is life, her eyes are day, And all mankind her creatures are. From a seventeenth-century miscellany entitled Wit Restored, 1658. HEN whispering strains do softly steal WHEN With creeping passion through the heart, And when at every touch we feel Our pulses beat, and bear a part; A heart-string quake;- Can scarce deny The soul consists of harmony. Oh, lull me, lull me, charming air, That hath an ear? Down let him lie, And slumbering die, And change his soul for harmony. SAMUEL SHEPPARD. (?) (Fl. 1650.) EPITHALAMIUM. From The Loves of Amandus and Sophronia, 1650. HEAVENLY fair Urania's son, Thou that dwell'st on Helicon, Let this day with pleasure spring; Leave th' Aonian cave behind (Come, O come with willing mind!) And the Thespian rocks, whence drill Aganippe waters still. Chastest virgins, you that are Make the air with Hymen ring, GEORGE DIGBY, EARL OF BRISTOL. (?) (1612-1676.) SONG. From the comedy of Elvira, 1667; in Hazlitt's Dodsley, vol. xv. A new life gives to others' joys, Grief-stricken lie, Nor can meet With any sweet But what faster mine destroys. What are all the senses' pleasures, Hear, O hear! How sweet and clear The nightingale And waters' fall In concert join for others' ears, Whilst to me, For harmony, Echoes despair, And every drop provokes a tear. What are all the senses' pleasures, (M 349) EDMUND WALLER. (1605-1687.) Three editions of Waller's Poems, in which the first three selections given below were published, appeared in 1645. The contents do not vary. The last extract was written by Waller when he was over eighty years of age. Waller's Poems are reprinted in Chalmers' Poets, vol. viii., also in the Muses' Library, 1892, edited by Mr. G. Thorn Drury. ON A GIRDLE. THAT which her slender waist confined, No monarch but would give his crown A narrow compass, and yet there SONG. Go, lovely Rose, Tell her that wastes her time and me, When I resemble her to thee How sweet and fair she seems to be. Tell her that's young, And shuns to have her graces spied, In deserts where no men abide, Thou must have uncommended died. |