down the seas in danger to be lost.
   Shall they not make me fear that they have swallowed thee?
   —But as thou art most sure alive, so wilt thou come to me.
   Whereby I shall go see thy ship ride on the strand,
And think and say Lo where he comes and Sure here will he
   land:
   And then I shall lift up to thee my little hand,
And thou shalt think thine heart in ease, in health to see me
   stand.
   And if thou come indeed (as Christ thee send to do!)
Those arms which miss thee now shall then embrace [and
  hold] thee to:
Each vein to every joint the lively blood shall spread
Which now for want of thy glad sight doth show full pale and
   dead.
   But if thou slip thy troth, and do not come at all,
As minutes in the clock do strike so call for death I shall:
   To please both thy false heart and rid myself from woe,
That rather had to die in troth than live forsaken so!

63   The Faithless Shepherdess

William Byrd’s Songs of
     Sundry Natures, 1589

WHILE that the sun with his beams hot
      Scorchàed the fruits in vale and mountain,
Philon the shepherd, late forgot,
    Sitting beside a crystal fountain
         In shadow of a green oak tree,
         Upon his pipe this song play’d he:
Adieu, Love, adieu, Love, untrue Love!
Untrue Love, untrue Love, adieu, Love!
Your mind is light, soon lost for new love.
So long as I was in your sight
    I was your heart, your soul, your treasure;
And evermore you sobb’d and sigh’d
    Burning in flames beyond all measure:
          —Three days endured your love to me,
          And it was lost in other three!
Adieu, Love, adieu, Love, untrue Love!
Untrue Love, untrue Love, adieu, Love!
Your mind is light, soon lost for new love.
Another shepherd you did see,
   To whom your heart was soon enchainàed;
Full soon your love was leapt from me,
   Full soon my place he had obtainàed.
      Soon came a third your love to win,
      And we were out and he was in.
Adieu, Love, adieu, Love, untrue Love!
Untrue Love, untrue Love, adieu, Love!
Your mind is light, soon lost for new love.

Sure you have made me passing glad
    That you your mind so soon removàed,
Before that I the leisure had
    To choose you for my best belovàed:
      For all my love was pass’d and done
      Two days before it was begun.
Adieu, Love, adieu, Love, untrue Love!
Untrue Love, untrue Love, adieu, Love!
Your mind is light, soon lost for new love.

64   Crabbed Age and Youth

The Passionate Pilgrim, 1599

CRABBÈED Age and Youth
Cannot live together:
Youth is full of pleasance,
Age is full of care;
Youth like summer morn,
Age like winter weather;
Youth like summer brave,
Age like winter bare.
Youth is full of sport,
Age’s breath is short;
Youth is nimble, Age is lame;
Youth is hot and bold,
Age is weak and cold;
Youth is wild, and Age is tame.
Age, I do abhor thee;
Youth, I do adore thee;
O, my Love, my Love is young!
Age, I do defy thee:
O, sweet shepherd, hie thee!
For methinks thou stay’st too long.
                                ? by William Shakespeare

65                                   Phyllida’s Love-Call

England’s Helicon, 1600

Phyllida.   CORYDON, arise, my Corydon!
                      Titan shineth clear.
Corydon.  Who is it that calleth Corydon?
                     Who is it that I hear?
       Phyl.   Phyllida, thy true love, calleth thee,
                     Arise then, arise then,
                         Arise and keep thy flock with me!
       Cor.   Phyllida, my true love, is it she?
                     I come then, I come then,
                          I come and keep my flock with thee.

     Phyl.   Here are cherries ripe for my Corydon;
                     Eat them for my sake.
       Cor.   Here’s my oaten pipe, my lovely one,
                     Sport for thee to make.
       Phyl.   Here are threads, my true love, fine as silk,
                      To knit thee, to knit thee,
                         A pair of stockings white as milk.
       Cor.   Here are reeds, my true love, fine and neat,
                      To make thee, to make thee,
                         A bonnet to withstand the heat.

     Phyl.