CCCLXXXVIII.

TO M. LEONARD WILLAN, HIS PECULIAR FRIEND.

I will be short, and having quickly hurl'd
This line about, live thou throughout the world,
Who art a man for all scenes; unto whom,
What's hard to others, nothing's troublesome :
Can'st write the comic, tragic strain, and fall
From these to pen the pleasing pastoral:

Who fli'st at all heights; prose and verse runs't through;

Find'st here a fault, and mend'st the trespass too;
For which I might extol thee, but speak less,
Because thyself art coming to the press;
And then should I in praising thee be slow,
Posterity will pay thee what I owe.

CCCLXXXIX.

TO HIS WORTHY FRIEND, M. JOHN HALL,

OF GRAY'S-INN.

STUDENT

Tell me, young man, or did the Muses bring
The less to taste, than to drink up their spring;
That none hereafter should be thought, or be
A poet, or a poet-like, but thee?

What was thy birth, thy star that makes thee known,
At twice ten years, a prime and public one?
Tell us thy nation, kindred, or the whence
Thou had'st and hast thy mighty influence,
That makes thee lov'd, and of the men desir'd,
And no less prais'd, than of the maids admir'd.
Put on thy laurel then, and in that trim
Be thou Apollo, or the type of him ;
Or let the unshorn god lend thee his lyre,
And next to him, be master of the choir.

CXLVI.

WRITING.

When words we want, love teacheth to indite;
And what we blush to speak, she bids us write.

CXLVII.

SOCIETY.

Two things do make society stand;
The first commerce is, and the next command.

CXLVIII.

SATISFACTION FOR SUFFERINGS.

For all our works a recompense is sure;
'Tis sweet to think on what was hard to endure.

CXLIX.
NEED.

Who begs to die for fear of human need,
Wisheth his body, not his soul good speed.

CL.

THE BODY.

The body is the soul's poor-house or home,
Whose ribs the laths are, and whose flesh the loam.

CLI.

ON LOVE.

Love is a kind of war; hence those who fear,
No cowards must his royal ensigns bear.

CLII.

ANOTHER.

Where love begins, there dread thy first desire;
A spark neglected makes a mighty fire.

CLIII.

FACTIONS.

The factions of the great ones call,
To side with them, the commons all.

CLIV.

SLAVERY.

'Tis liberty to serve one lord; but he
Who many serves, serves base servility.

CLV.

SURFEITS.

Bad are all surfeits; but physicians call
That surfeit took by bread, the worst of all.

CLVI.
TEARS.

Tears most prevail; with tears too thou may'st move Rocks to relent, and coyest maids to love.

CLVII.

TRUTH.

Truth is best found out by the time and eyes,
Falsehood wins credit by uncertainties.

CLVIII.

THE EYES BEFORE THE EARS.

We credit most our sight; one eye doth please
Our trust far more than ten ear-witnesses.

CLIX.
WANT.

Want is a softer wax, that takes thereon,

This, that, and every base impression.

CLX.

BLAME.

In battles what disasters fall,

The king, he bears the blame of all.

CLXI.

TWILIGHT.

Twilight, no other thing is, poets say,
Than the last part of night, and first of day.

CLXII.

VERSES.

Who will not honour noble numbers, when Verses outlive the bravest deeds of men?

CLXIII.

HAPPINESS.

That Happiness does still the longest thrive, Where joys and griefs have turns alternative.

CLXIV.

THINGS OF CHOICE, LONG COMING.

We pray 'gainst war, yet we enjoy no peace; Desire deferr'd is, that it may increase.

CLXV.

BURIAL.

Man may want land to live in; but for all, Nature finds out some place for burial.

CLXVI.

THE MEAN.

Imparity doth ever discord bring;

The mean, the music makes in everything.

FAME

CVI.

MAKES US

FORWARD.

To print our poems, the propulsive cause Is Fame, the breath of popular applause.