Summary

This collection of more than 820 wonderful poems, both long and short, covers seven and a half centuries of English verse from all parts of the British Isles.

Author Biography

The renowned writer, critic, and scholar, Christopher Ricks is Professor of English at Boston University. His many books include The Force of Poetry and Beckett's Dying Words (both OUP, 1995).

Preface: The Oxford Book

xxxiii

(8)

Introduction: Of English Verse

xli

ANONYMOUS [THIRTEENTH CENTURY]

(1)

1. `Sumer is icumen in'

(1)

[FOURTEENTH CENTURY]

(1)

2. `Ich am of Irlaunde'

(1)

3. `Maiden in the mor lay'

(1)

JOHN GOWER (1330?-1408) from Confessio Amantis

(1)

4. `I finde hou whilom ther was on'

(1)

WILLIAM LANGLAND (1330?-1386?) from Piers Plowman

(3)

5. `In a somer seson whan soft was the sonne'

(2)

6. `It is a kynde knowying'

(1)

GEOFFREY CHAUCER (1343?-1400)

(5)

7. from General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales `Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote'

(1)

8. from the Wife of Bath's Prologue `Experience, though noon auctoritee'

(1)

9. from The Pardoner's Tale `Whan they han goon nat fully half a mile'

(1)

10. from Troilus and Criseyde `The wrath, as I bigan yow for to seye'

(2)

JOHN LYDGATE (1370?-1449/50) from The Daunce of Death

(1)

11. `O thow Minstral that cannest so note and pipe'

(1)

ANONYMOUS [FIFTEENTH CENTURY]

(2)

12. `Adam lay ibowndyn, bowndyn in a bond'

(1)

13. The Corpus Christi Carol: `Lully, lulley; lully, lulley'

(1)

14. `I syng of a mayden that is makeles'

(1)

15. A Lyke-Wake Dirge

(1)

16. `Westron wynde when wyll thow blow'

(1)

ROBERT HENRYSON (1424?-1506?) from The Testament of Cresseid

(4)

17. `That samin tyme, of Troy the garnisoun'

(4)

WILLIAM DUNBAR (1456?-1513?)

(4)

18. `Done is a battell on the dragon blak'

(1)

19. `I that in heill wes and gladnes'

(3)

JOHN SKELTON (1460?-1529)

(5)

20. `Youre ugly tokyn'

(2)

21. from The Bowge of Courte `Ye remembre the gentylman ryghte nowe'

(1)

22. Calliope

(1)

23. from A garland or Chapelet of Laurell To mastres Margery Wentworthe

(1)

24. To maystres Margaret Hussey

(1)

GAVIN DOUGLAS (1475?-1522) from Virgil's Eneados

(1)

25. `Thir riveris and thir watteris kepit war'

(1)

SIR THOMAS WYATT (1503-1542)

(5)

26. `The longe love, that in my thought doeth harbar'

(1)

27. `Who so list to hounte I know where is an hynde'

(1)

28. `Farewell, Love, and all thy lawes for ever'

(1)

29. `My galy charged with forgetfulnes'

(1)

30. `They fle from me that sometyme did me seke'

(1)

31. `My lute, awake! perfourme the last'

(1)

32. `So unwarely was never no man cawght'

(1)

33. `Dyverse dothe use as I have heard and kno'

(1)

34. `The piller pearisht is whearto I lent'

(1)

35. `Stond who so list upon the Slipper toppe'

(1)

36. Psalm 130. De profundis clamavi

(1)

HENRY HOWARD, EARL OF SURREY (1517?-1547)

(1)

37. `The soote season, that bud and blome furth bringes'

(1)

38. `Alas, so all thinges nowe doe holde their peace'

(1)

ALEXANDER SCOTT (1520?-1590?)

(1)

39. A Rondel of Luve

(1)

RICHARD EDWARDES (1523-1566)

(1)

40. Amantium irae amoris redintigratia est

(1)

SIR HENRY LEE (1530-1610) [formerly attributed to GEORGE PEELE]

(1)

41. `His Golden lockes, Time hath to Silver turn'd'

(1)

ARTHUR GOLDING (1536?-1605) from Ovid's Metamorphosis

(1)

42. `The moysting Ayre was whist: no leafe ye could have moving sene'

(1)

ALEXANDER MONTGOMERIE (1545?-1610?)

(1)

43. A Description of Tyme

(1)

EDMUND SPENSER (1552?-1599) from The Faerie Queene

(9)

44. `That darkesome cave they enter, where they find'

(2)

45. `Eftsoones they heard a most melodious sound'

(2)

46. `Great enimy to it, and to all the rest'

(1)

47. Prothalamion

(5)

FULKE GREVILLE, LORD BROOKE (1554-1628)

(2)

48. `I with whose colors Myra drest her head'

(1)

49. `Downe in the depth of mine iniquity'

(1)

50. from Mustapha `Oh wearisome Condition of Humanity!'

(1)

SIR PHILIP SIDNEY (1554-1586)

(4)

51. from The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia `My true love hath my hart, and I have his'

(1)

52. `Yee Gote-heard Gods, that love the grassie mountaines'

(2)

53. `Thou blind man's marke, thou foole's selfe chosen snare'

(1)

54. from Astrophil and Stella `Loving in truth, and faine in verse my love to show'

(1)

55. `With how sad steps, o Moone, thou climb'st the skies'

(1)

56. `Come sleepe, o sleepe, the certaine knot of peace'

(1)

57. `Who will in fairest booke of Nature know'

(1)

JOHN LYLY (1554?-1606) from Campaspe

(1)

58. `O for a Bowle of fatt Canary'

(1)

SIR WALTER RALEGH (1554?-1618)

(4)

59. `As you came from the holy land'

(2)

60. The Lie

(1)

61. `Even such is tyme which takes in trust'

(1)

GEORGE PEELE (1556-1596)

(1)

62. from The Old Wives Tale `When as the Rie reach to the chin'

(1)

63. `Gently dip: but not too deepe'

(1)

64. from David and Fair Bethsabe `Hot sunne, coole fire, temperd with sweet aire'

(1)

CHIDIOCK TICHBORNE (1558?-1586)

(1)

65. `My prime of youth is but a froste of cares'

(1)

GEORGE CHAPMAN (1559?-1634)

(5)

66. from Homer's Iliads `So far'd divine Sarpedon's mind, resolv'd to force his way'

(1)

67. from Achilles' Shield `This said, the smith did to his bellowes goe'

(1)

68. `He carvde besides a soft and fruitfull field'

(1)

69. from Homer's Odysses `While this discourse he held'

(2)

SIR JOHN HARINGTON (1560-1612) from Ariosto's Orlando Furioso

(2)

70. `The masters go abrod to vew the towne'

(2)

71. Of Treason

(1)

MARY HERBERT, COUNTESS OF PEMBROKE (1561-1621)

(1)

72. Psalm 117. Laudate Dominum

(1)

73. Psalm 120. Ad Dominum

(1)

ANONYMOUS (1604) [formerly attributed to SIR WALTER RALEGH]

(2)

74. The passionate mans Pilgrimage

(2)

ST ROBERT SOUTHWELL (1561-1595)

(2)

75. The burning Babe

(1)

76. The Nativitie of Christ

(1)

77. A childe my Choyce

(1)

MARK ALEXANDER BOYD (1563-1601)

(1)

78. Sonet: `Fra banc to banc fra wod to wod I rin'

(1)

ANONYMOUS [formerly attributed to QUEEN ELIZABETH]

(1)

79. `He was the Word that spake it'

(1)

SAMUEL DANIEL (1563-1619)

(2)

80. `Care-charmer sleepe, sonne of the Sable night'

(1)

81. Ulisses and the Syren

(1)

MICHAEL DRAYTON (1563-1631)

(1)

82. `Since ther's no helpe, Come let us kisse and part'

(1)

CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE (1564-1593)

(6)

83. The Passionate Shepherd to His Love

(1)

84. from Hero and Leander `His bodie was as straight as Circes wand'

(1)

85. `And as her silver body downeward went'

(2)

86. from Ovid's Elegies Elegia I. 5: `In summers heate, and midtime of the day'

(1)

87. from Tamburlaine, Part II `Blacke is the beauty of the brightest day'

(1)

88. from Doctor Faustus `Ah Faustus'

(1)

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (1564-1616)

(6)

89. The Phoenix and Turtle

(2)

90. from the Sonnets Sonnet 18. `Shall I compare thee to a Summers day?'

(1)

91. Sonnet 53. `What is your substance, whereof are you made'

(1)

92. Sonnet 55. `Not marble, nor the guilded monuments'

(1)

93. Sonnet 60. `Like as the waves make towards the pibled shore'

(1)

94. Sonnet 73. `That time of yeeare thou maist in me behold'

(1)

95. Sonnet 86. `Was it the proud full saile of his great verse'

(1)

96. Sonnet 94. `They that have power to hurt, and will doe none'

(1)

97. Sonnet 116. `Let me not to the marriage of true mindes'

(1)

98. Sonnet 129. `Th'expence of Spirit in a waste of shame'

(1)

99. Sonnet 130. `My Mistres eyes are nothing like the Sunne'

(1)

100. Sonnet 138. `When my love sweares that she is made of truth'

(1)

Songs

(14)

101. from Love's Labour's Lost `When Dasies pied, and Violets blew'

(1)

102. from Twelfth Night `O Mistris mine where are you roming?'

(1)

103. `When that I was and a little tiny boy'

(1)

104. from Measure for Measure `Take, oh take those lips away'

(1)

105. from Cymbeline `Feare no more the heate o'th'Sun'

(1)

106. from The Tempest `Full fadom five thy Father lies'

(1)

107. from Richard III `Now is the Winter of our Discontent'

(1)

108. from Romeo and Juliet `I dreampt a dreame to night'

(1)

109. from Richard II `This royall Throne of Kings, this sceptred Isle'

(1)

110. from A Midsummer Night's Dream `Tis strange my Theseus, that these lovers speake of'

(1)

111. from The Merchant of Venice `Then must the Jew be mercifull'

(1)

112. from Julius Caesar `Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears'

(1)

113. from As You Like It `Thou seest, we are not all alone unhappie'

(1)

114. from Twelfth Night `If Musicke be the food of Love, play on'

(1)

115. from Hamlet `To be, or not to be, that is the Question'

(1)

116. from Measure for Measure `What saies my brother?'

(1)

117. from Othello `It is the Cause, it is the Cause (my Soule)'

(1)

118. from King Lear `Come on Sir'

(1)

119. from Macbeth `It is the cry of women, my good Lord'

(1)

120. from Antony and Cleopatra `I will tell you'

(1)

121. from The Tempest `You doe looke (my son) in a mov'd sort'

(1)

THOMAS BASTARD (1566-1618)

(1)

122. De puero balbutiente

(1)

THOMAS CAMPION (1567-1620)

(4)

123. `Followe thy faire sunne, unhappy shadowe'

(1)

124. `Harke, al you ladies that do sleep'

100

(1)

125. `When thou must home to shades of under ground'

101

(1)

126. `Rose-cheekt Lawra, come'

101

(1)

127. `Kinde are her answeres'

102

(1)

128. `Now winter nights enlarge'

102

(1)

THOMAS NASHE (1567-1601) from Summer's Last Will and Testament

103

(1)

129. `Spring, the sweete spring, is the yeres pleasant King'

103

(1)

130. `Adieu, farewell earths blisse'

103

(1)

WILLIAM ALABASTER (1568-1640)

104

(1)

131. `What should there be in Christ to give offence?'

104

(1)

132. from Upon the Ensigns of Christ's Crucifying Ego Sum Vitis

105

(1)

SIR HENRY WOTTON (1568-1639)

105

(2)

133. On his Mistress, the Queen of Bohemia

105

(1)

134. Upon the sudden Restraint of the Earl of Somerset, then falling from favour

106

(1)

135. The Character of a Happy Life

106

(1)

136. Upon the death of Sir Albert Morton's Wife

107

(1)

EDWARD FAIRFAX (1568?-1635) from The fourth booke of Godfrey of Bulloigne

107

(2)

137. `All wilie sleights, that subtile women know'

107

(2)

SIR JOHN DAVIES (1569-1626) from Orchestra: or a Poeme of Dauncing

109

(1)

138. `Where lives the man that never yet did heare'

109

(1)

THOMAS DEKKER (1572?-1632) from Patient Grissil

110

(1)

139. `Golden slumbers kisse your eyes'

110

(1)

JOHN DONNE (1572-1631)

110

(8)

140. The good-morrow

110

(1)

141. Song: `Goe, and catche a falling starre'

111

(1)

142. A nocturnall upon S. Lucies day, Being the shortest day

112

(1)

143. A Valediction: forbidding mourning

113

(1)

144. The Extasie

114

(1)

145. Elegy: To his Mistris Going to Bed

115

(2)

146. from Holy Sonnets `At the round earths imagin'd corners, blow'

117

(1)

147. `Death be not proud, though some have called thee'

117

(1)

148. A Hymne to God the Father

117

(1)

BEN JONSON (1572?-1637)

118

(8)

149. Epitaph on S[alomon] P[avy]

118

(1)

150. On my First Sonne

119

(1)

151. from Volpone `Good morning to the day; and, next, my gold'

119

(1)

152. `I feare, I shall begin to grow in love'

120

(1)

153. Song. To Celia: `Come my CELIA, let us prove'

121

(1)

154. Song. To Celia: `Drinke to me, onely, with thine eyes'

121

(1)

155. from The Key Keeper Song. `If to your ear it wonder bring'

122

(1)

156. from The Alchemist `I will have all my beds, blowne up; not stuft'

122

(1)

157. `Doing, a filthy pleasure is, and short'

123

(1)

158. To Penshurst

124

(2)

ANONYMOUS (1603)

126

(1)

159. `Weepe you no more sad fountaines'

126

(1)

CYRIL TOURNEUR (1575?-1626) from The Revenger's Tragedy

126

(3)

160. `Duke: royall letcher; goe, gray hayrde adultery'

126

(2)

161. `Art thou beguild now? tut, a Lady can'

128

(1)

JOHN WEBSTER (1575?-1634 or 1638?)

129

(3)

162. from The White Devil `Call for the Robin-Red-brest and the wren'

129

(1)

163. from The Duchess of Malfi `Do'st thou thinke we shall know one an other'

129

(1)

164. `Hearke, now every thing is still'

130

(1)

165. `What death?'

130

(1)

166. `Thou wretched thing of blood'

131

(1)

RICHARD CORBETT (1582-1635)

132

(2)

167. A Proper New Ballad Intituled The Faeryes Farewell

132

(2)

EDWARD, LORD HERBERT OF CHERBURY (1582-1648)

134

(3)

168. An Ode upon a Question moved, Whether Love should continue for ever?

134

(3)

AURELIAN TOWNSHEND (1583?-1651?)

137

(2)

169. `Your smiles are not as other womens bee'

137

(1)

170. A Dialogue betwixt Time and a Pilgrime

138

(1)

171. from Albion's Triumph Song: `What mak's me so unnimbly ryse'

138

(1)

WILLIAM DRUMMOND (1585-1649)

139

(1)

172. For the Baptiste

139

(1)

LADY MARY WROTH (1587?-1652?)

140

(1)

173. Song: `Love a child is ever crying'

140

(1)

GEORGE WITHER (1588-1667)

140

(1)

174. `Shall I wasting in Dispaire'

140

(1)

ROBERT HERRICK (1591-1674)

141

(4)

175. Delight in Disorder

141

(1)

176. Corinna's going a Maying

142

(1)

177. To the Virgins, to make much of Time

143

(1)

178. The comming of good luck

144

(1)

179. To Anthea, who may command him any thing

144

(1)

180. Upon Julia's Clothes

145

(1)

181. To his ever-loving God

145

(1)

HENRY KING (1592-1669)

145

(4)

182. An Exequy To his Matchlesse never to be forgotten Freind

145

(3)

183. `Tell mee no more how faire shee is'

148

(1)

GEORGE HERBERT (1593-1633)

149

(5)

184. Easter: `I got me flowers to straw thy way'

149

(1)

185. Redemption

149

(1)

186. Prayer(I)

149

(1)

187. Jordan(I)

150

(1)

188. Vertue

150

(1)

189. The Pearl

151

(1)

190. The Quip

152

(1)

191. Hope

152

(1)

192. The Flower

153

(1)

193. Love(III)

154

(1)

THOMAS CAREW (1594?-1640)

154

(1)

194. Epitaph on the Lady Mary Villers

154

(1)

195. A Song: `Ask me no more where Jove bestowes'

155

(1)

JAMES SHIRLEY (1596-1666)

155

(1)

196. `The glories of our blood and state'

155

(1)

WILLIAM HABINGTON (1605-1654)

156

(1)

197. Nox nocti indicat Scientiam

156

(1)

SIR WILLIAM DAVENANT (1606-1668)

157

(1)

198. Song: `The Lark now leaves his watry Nest'

157

(1)

199. The Philosopher and the Lover; to a Mistress dying

158

(1)

EDMUND WALLER (1606-1687)

158

(2)

200. Song: `Go lovely Rose'

158

(1)

201. Of the Last Verses in the Book

159

(1)

SIR RICHARD FANSHAWE (1608-1666)

160

(1)

202. A Great Favorit Beheaded

160

(1)

JOHN MILTON (1608-1674)

160

(12)

203. from Ode on the Morning of Christ's Nativity: The Hymn `It was the Winter wilde'

160

(2)

204. from arcades Song: `Nymphs and Shepherds dance no more'

162

(1)

205. Lycidas

162

(5)

206. from Comus Song: `Sabrina fair'

167

(1)

207. Song: `By the rushy-fringed bank'

167

(1)

208. The Fifth Ode of Horace. Lib. I

167

(1)

209. On the late Massacher in Piemont

168

(1)

210. `When I consider how my light is spent'

168

(1)

211. from Paradise Lost `Of Mans First Disobedience, and the Fruit'

169

(1)

212. `Hail holy light, ofspring of Heav'n first-born'

169

(2)

213. `No more of talk where God or Angel Guest'

171

(1)

214. from Samson Agonistes `All is best, though we oft doubt'

172

(1)

SIR JOHN SUCKLING (1609-1641)

172

(2)

215. `Oh! for some honest Lovers ghost'

172

(1)

216. The constant Lover

173

(1)

217. Song: `Why so pale and wan fond Lover?'

174

(1)

SIDNEY GODOLPHIN (1610-1643)

174

(1)

218. `Lord when the wise men came from Farr'

174

(1)

219. `Thou Joy of my Life'

175

(1)

JAMES GRAHAM, MARQUIS OF MONTROSE (1612-1650)

175

(1)

220. `My dear and only Love, I pray'

175

(1)

ANNE BRADSTREET (1612-1672)

176

(1)

221. from In Honour of Queen Elizabeth of Happy Memory: Her Epitaph

176

(1)

222. To my Dear and loving Husband

177

(1)

CLEMENT PAMAN (1612-1663) [formerly attributed to JOHN CLEVELAND]

177

(1)

223. Epitaph on the Earl of Strafford

177

(1)

RICHARD CRASHAW (1612/13-1649) from A Hymn to the Name and Honor of the Admirable Sainte Teresa

178

(1)

224. `Love, thou art Absolute sole lord'

178

(1)

SAMUEL BUTLER (1613-1680) from Hudibras

179

(1)

225. `For his Religion it was fit'

179

(1)

ANONYMOUS (1641)

180

(1)

226. Interrogativa Cantilena

180

(1)

SIR JOHN DENHAM (1615-1669) from Cooper's Hill

181

(1)

227. `My eye descending from the Hill, surveys'

181

(1)

ABRAHAM COWLEY (1618-1667)

182

(1)

228. Drinking

182

(1)

RICHARD LOVELACE (1618-1657/8)

183

(2)

229. To Lucasta, Going to the Warres

183

(1)

230. To Althea, from Prison

183

(1)

231. La Bella Bona Roba

184

(1)

232. Another [A Black patch on Lucasta's Face]

184

(1)

ANDREW MARVELL (1621-1678)

185

(9)

233. The Definition of Love

185

(1)

234. To his Coy Mistress

186

(1)

235. An Horatian Ode upon Cromwel's Return from Ireland

187

(3)

236. The Garden

190

(1)

237. A Dialogue between the Soul and Body

191

(2)

238. The Mower to the Glo-Worms

193

(1)

239. Bermudas

193

(1)

HENRY VAUGHAN (1621-1695)

194

(5)

240. The Retreate

194

(1)

241. Peace

195

(1)

242. The World

195

(2)

243. `They are all gone into the world of light!'

197

(1)

244. The Night

198

(1)

PATRICK CARY (1623/4-1657)

199

(1)

245. `For God's sake marcke that Fly'

199

(1)

JOHN BUNYAN (1628-1688)

200

(1)

246. `Who would true Valour see'

200

(1)

CHARLES COTTON (1630-1687)

200

(2)

247. Evening Quatrains

200

(2)

JOHN DRYDEN (1631-1700) from Absalom and Achitophel

202

(8)

248. `Of these the false Achitophel was first'

202

(1)

249. `Some of their Chiefs were Princes of the Land'

202

(1)

250. from Mac Flecknoe `All humane things are subject to decay'

203

(1)

251. To the Memory of Mr. Oldham

204

(1)

252. from Lucretius: The Fourth Book, Concerning the Nature of Love `When Love its utmost vigour does imploy' from The Sixth Satyr of Juvenal

205

(1)

253. from The Sixth Satyr of Juvenal `In Saturn's Reign, at Nature's Early Birth'

206

(1)

254. `What care our Drunken Dames to whom they spread?'

207

(1)

255. from The First Book of Virgil's AEnesis `Arms, and the Man I sing, who, forc'd by Fate'

208

(1)

256. `Chronos, Chronos, mend thy Pace'

209

(1)

KATHERINE PHILIPS (1632-1664)

210

(2)

257. To my Excellent Lucasia, on our Friendship

210

(1)

258. The Enquiry

211

(1)

THOMAS TRAHERNE (1637-1674)

212

(3)

259. Wonder

212

(1)

260. The Apostacy

213

(2)

SIR CHARLES SEDLEY (1639?-1701)

215

(2)

261. A Song to Celia

215

(1)

262. Song: `Love still has something of the Sea'

216

(1)

APHRA BEHN (1640-1689)

217

(1)

263. Love Arm'd

217

(1)

EDWARD TAYLOR (1642?-1729)

217

(6)

264. Meditation. Cant. 6.11. I went down into the Garden of Nuts

217

(2)

265. The Preface [to Gods Determinations]

219

(1)

266. Let by rain

220

(1)

267. Upon a Spider Catching a Fly

221

(1)

268. Upon a Wasp Child with Cold

222

(1)

JOHN WILMOT, EARL OF ROCHESTER (1647-1680)

223

(6)

269. Seneca's Troas. Act2. Chorus: `After Death, nothing is, and nothing Death'

223

(1)

270. A Song: `Absent from thee I languish still'

224

(1)

271. A Song of a young Lady. To her Ancient Lover

224

(1)

272. from Satyr [A Satyr against Mankind] `Were I (who to my cost already am'

225

(1)

273. `You see how far Mans wisedom here extends'

226

(1)

274. Plain Dealings Downfall

227

(1)

275. `God bless our good and gracious King'

227

(1)

276. Love and Life: a Song

228

(1)

277. Upon Nothing

228

(1)

CHARLES MORDAUNT, EARL OF PETERBOROUGH (1658-1735)

229

(1)

278. `I said to my Heart, between sleeping and waking'

229

(1)

ANNE FINCH, COUNTESS OF WINCHILSEA (1661-1720)

230

(3)

279. A Nocturnal Reverie

230

(1)

280. Glass

231

(1)

281. A Sigh

232

(1)

282. The Unequal Fetters

232

(1)

TOM BROWN (1663-1704)

233

(1)

283. `I do not love thee, Doctor Fell'

233

(1)

MATTHEW PRIOR (1664-1721)

233

(3)

284. To a Child of Quality of Five Years Old, the Author suppos'd Forty

233

(1)

285. In Imitation of Anacreon: `Let 'em Censure: what care I?'

234

(1)

286. The Lady who offers her Looking-Glass to Venus

234

(1)

287. A Better Answer

235

(1)

288. Epigram: `To JOHN I ow'd great Obligation'

235

(1)

289. Human Life

236

(1)

GEORGE GRANVILLE, LORD LANSDOWNE (1667-1735)

236

(1)

290. Cloe: `Bright as the day, and like the morning, fair'

236

(1)

291. Cloe: `Cloe's the wonder of her sex'

236

(1)

JONATHAN SWIFT (1667-1745)

236

(9)

292. The Humble Petition of Frances Harris

236

(2)

293. A Description of the Morning

238

(1)

294. from Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift `The Time is not remote, when I'

239

(2)

295. `Here shift the Scene, to represent'

241

(1)

296. `"Perhaps I may allow, the Dean'

242

(1)

297. The Day of Judgement

243

(1)

298. A Beautiful Young Nymph Going to Bed

243

(2)

WILLIAM CONGREVE (1670-1729)

245

(1)

299. A Hue and Cry after Fair Amoret

245

(1)

300. Song: `False though she be to me and Love'

246

(1)

301. Song: `Pious Selinda goes to Pray'rs'

246

(1)

JOSEPH ADDISON (1672-1719)

246

(1)

302. Ode: `The Spacious Firmament on high'

246

(1)

ISAAC WATTS (1674-1748)

247

(4)

303. The Day of Judgment

247

(1)

304. Crucifixion to the World by the Cross of Christ

248

(1)

305. Man Frail, and God Eternal

249

(1)

306. Against Idleness and Mischief

250

(1)

307. The Sluggard

250

(1)

JOSEPH TRAPP (1679-1747)

251

(1)

308a. On His late Majesty's Gracious Gift to the Universities with a reply by SIR WILLIAM BROWNE (1692-1774)

251

(1)

308b. `The King to Oxford sent a troop of horse'

251

(1)

GEORGE BERKELEY (1685-1753)

251

(1)

309. Verses on the Prospect of planting Arts and Learning in America

251

(1)

JOHN GAY (1685-1732)

252

(1)

310. from Trivia `Be sure observe where brown Ostrea stands'

252

(1)

311. My own Epitaph

253

(1)

312. from The Beggar's Opera `Were I laid on Greenlands' Coast'

253

(1)

ANONYMOUS (1734)

253

(2)

313. `In good King Charles's golden days'

253

(2)

ALLAN RAMSAY (1686-1758)

255

(3)

314. Polwart on the Green

255

(1)

315. Up in the Air

255

(1)

316. Sang: `My Peggy is a young thing'

256

(1)

317. Lass with a Lump of Land

257

(1)

ALEXANDER POPE (1688-1744)

258

(8)

318. from An Essay on Criticism `A little Learning is a dang'rous Thing'

258

(1)

319. from the Rape of the Lock `And now, unveil'd, the Toilet stands display'd'

259

(1)

320. `Then grave Clarissa graceful wav'd her Fan'

259

(1)

321. from Epistle to a Lady: Of the Characters of Women `Men, some to Bus'ness, some to Pleasure take'

260

(1)

322. from Epistle to Bathurst: Of the Use of Riches `Behold what blessings Wealth to life can lend'

261

(1)

323. from Epistle to Burlington: Of the Use of Riches `At Timon's Villa let us pass a day'

262

(1)

324. from An Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot `Peace to all such! but were there One whose fires'

263

(1)

325. `Let Sporus tremble--"What? that Thing of silk'

264

(1)

326. from the Dunciad `O Muse! relate (for you can tell alone'

265

(1)

327. Epitaph. Intended for Sir Isaac Newton

266

(1)

328. Epigram. Engraved on the Collar of a Dog which I gave to his Royal Highness

266

(1)

LADY MARY WORTLEY MONTAGU (1689-1762)

266

(2)

329. The Lover: a ballad

266

(1)

330. A Receipt to Cure the Vapours

267

(1)

331. `Be plain in Dress and sober in your Diet'

268

(1)

WILLIAM OLDYS (1696-1761)

268

(1)

332. The Fly

268

(1)

SAMUEL JOHNSON (1709-1784) from The Vanity of Human Wishes

269

(7)

333. `Let Observation with extensive View'

269

(1)

334. `Unnumber'd Suppliants croud Preferment's Gate'

269

(1)

335. `In full-blown Dignity, see Wolsey stand'

270

(1)

336. `On what Foundation stands the Warrior's Pride?'

271

(1)

337. `Enlarge my Life with Multitude of Days'

272

(1)

338. `Where then shall Hope and Fear their Objects find?'

273

(1)

339. A Short Song of Congratulation

274

(1)

340. On the Death of Dr. Robert Levet

275

(1)

WILLIAM SHENSTONE (1714-1763)

276

(1)

341. Written at an Inn at Henley

276

(1)

THOMAS GRAY (1716-1771)

277

(4)

342. Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat, Drowned in a Tub of Gold Fishes

277

(1)

343. Elegy Written in a Country Church Yard

278

(3)

WILLIAM COLLINS (1721-1759)

281

(2)

344. Ode, Written in the beginning of the Year 1746

281

(1)

345. Ode to Evening

281

(2)

MARY LEAPOR (1722-1746)

283

(1)

346. Mira's Will

283

(1)

CHRISTOPHER SMART (1722-1771)

284

(5)

347. from A Song to David `O DAVID, highest in the list'

284

(2)

348. from Jubilate Agno `For I will consider my Cat Jeoffry'

286

(2)

349. The Nativity of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ

288

(1)

FRANCES GREVILLE (1724?-1789)

289

(2)

350. A Prayer for Indifference

289

(2)

ANONYMOUS [EIGHTEENTH CENTURY]

291

(5)

351. Edward

291

(1)

352. Helen of Kirconnell

292

(1)

353. `Says Tweed to Till'

293

(1)

354. Sir Patrick Spens

294

(1)

355. The Twa Corbies

295

(1)

JEAN ELLIOT (1727-1805)

296

(1)

356. The Flowers of the Forest

296

(1)

OLIVER GOLDSMITH (1730?-1774)

296

(3)

357. `When lovely woman stoops to folly'

296

(1)

358. from Retaliation [following a couplet by DAVID GARRICK, 1717-1779]

297

(2)

`Here lies our good Edmund, whose genius was such'

297

(1)

`Here lies David Garrick, describe me, who can'

297

(1)

`Here Reynolds is laid, and, to tell you my mind'

298

(1)

WILLIAM COWPER (1731-1800)

299

(3)

359. The Poplar-Field

299

(1)

360. The Cast-Away

299

(2)

361. Light Shining out of Darkness

301

(1)

362. `Hatred and vengeance, my eternal portion'

301

(1)

NURSERY RHYMES [MOSTLY EIGHTEENTH AND NINETEENTH CENTURY]

302

(7)

363. `Baa, baa, black sheep'

302

(1)

364. `Boys and girls come out to play'

302

(1)

365. `Bye, baby bunting'

303

(1)

366. `Ding, dong, bell'

303

(1)

367. `Doctor Foster went to Gloucester'

303

(1)

368. `Hey diddle diddle'

303

(1)

369. `Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall'

303

(1)

370. `Hush-a-bye, baby, on the tree top'

303

(1)

371. `I saw a fishpond all on fire'

304

(1)

372. `Jack and Jill went up the hill'

304

(1)

373. `Oranges and lemons'

304

(1)

374. `Ride a cock-horse to Banbury Cross'

304

(1)

375. `See-saw, Margery Daw'

305

(1)

376. `Sing a song of sixpence'

305

(1)

377. `This is the house that Jack built'

305

(2)

378. `This little pig went to market'

307

(1)

379. `Three blind mice, see how they run!'

307

(1)

380. `White bird featherless'

307

(1)

381. `Who killed Cock Robin?'

307

(2)

ANNA SEWARD (1747-1809)

309

(1)

382. An Old Cat's Dying Soliloquy

309

(1)

ROBERT FERGUSSON (1750-1774)

310

(3)

383. The Daft-Days

310

(2)

384. Braid Claith

312

(1)

LADY ANNE LINDSAY (1750-1825)

313

(1)

385. Auld Robin Gray

313

(1)

RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN (1751-1816) from The School for Scandal

314

(1)

386. `Here's to the maiden of Bashful fifteen'

314

(1)

PHILIP FRENEAU (1752-1832)

315

(1)

387. Libera nos, Domine--Deliver us, O Lord

315

(1)

WILLIAM ROSCOE (1753-1831)

316

(2)

388. The Butterfly's Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast

316

(2)

PHILLIS WHEATLEY (1753-1784)

318

(1)

389. On being brought from Africa to America

318

(1)

GEORGE CRABBE (1754-1832) from The Borough: Peter Grimes

318

(1)

390. `Alas! for Peter not an helping Hand'

318

(1)

391. `The ring so worn, as you behold'

319

(1)

WILLIAM BLAKE (1757-1827)

319

(10)

392. from An Island in the Moon `Hail Matrimony made of Love'

319

(1)

393. from The Book of Thel IV. `The eternal gates terrific porter lifted the northern bar'

320

(1)

394. from Songs of Innocence The Divine Image

321

(1)

395. from Songs of Experience Introduction

321

(1)

396. The Clod and the Pebble

322

(1)

397. The Sick Rose

322

(1)

398. The Tyger

323

(1)

399. The Garden of Love

323

(1)

400. London

324

(1)

401. Infant Sorrow

324

(1)

402. A Poison Tree

324

(1)

403. `Never seek to tell thy love'

325

(1)

404. `I told my love I told my love'

325

(1)

405. `Abstinence sows sand all over'

325

(1)

406. The Question Answerd

326

(1)

407. from Visions of the Daughters of Albion `With what sense is it that the chicken shuns the ravenous hawk?'

326

(1)

408. `The moment of desire! the moment of desire! The virgin'

326

(1)

409. from Auguries of Innocence `To see a World in a Grain of Sand'

327

(1)

410. from Milton `And did those feet in ancient time'

328

(1)

411. To the Accuser who is the God of this World

329

(1)

MARY ROBINSON (1758-1800)

329

(1)

412. January, 1795

329

(1)

ROBERT BURNS (1759-1796)

330

(8)

413. Address to the Unco Guid, or the Rigidly Righteous

330

(2)

414. To a Mouse, On Turning Her up in Her Nest with the Plough

332

(1)

415. I Love My Jean

333

(1)

416. Auld Lang Syne

334

(1)

417. John Anderson My Jo

335

(1)

418. The Banks o'Doon

335

(1)

419. A Red, Red Rose

336

(1)

420. Is There for Honest Poverty

336

(1)

421. Kirkcudbright Grace

337

(1)

CATHERINE MARIA FANSHAWE (1765-1834)

338

(1)

422. A Riddle

338

(1)

ANONYMOUS [EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY]

338

(2)

423. Lord Randal

338

(2)

CAROLINE OLIPHANT, BARONESS NAIRNE (1766-1845)

340

(2)

424. The Laird o'Cockpen

340

(1)

425. The Land o' the Leal

341

(1)

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH (1770-1850)

342

(14)

426. Old Man Travelling

342

(1)

427. Animal Tranquillity and Decay

343

(1)

428. Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey

343

(4)

429. `A slumber did my spirit seal'

347

(1)

430. Influence of Natural Objects in Calling Forth and Strengthening the Imagination in Boyhood and Early Youth

347

(2)

431. Composed Upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802

349

(1)

432. Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood

349

(5)

433. `I wandered lonely as a cloud'

354

(1)

434. The Solitary Reaper

355

(1)

SIR WALTER SCOTT (1771-1832) from The Lay of the Last Minstrel

356

(1)

435. `Breathes there the man with soul so dead'

356

(1)

436. `Proud Maisie is in the wood'

356

(1)

437. `Look not thou on beauty's charming'

357

(1)

SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE (1772-1834)

357

(17)

438. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

357

(16)

439. Kubla Khan

373

(1)

WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR (1775-1864)

374

(2)

440. `Stand close around, ye Stygian set'

374

(1)

441. `Past ruin'd Ilion Helen lives'

374

(1)

442. `Yes; I write verses now and then'

374

(1)

443. Dying Speech of an Old Philospher

375

(1)

444. Age

375

(1)

445. Hearts-Ease

376

(1)

446. A Foreign Ruler

376

(1)

CHARLES LAMB (1775-1834)

376

(1)

447. The Old Familiar Faces

376

(1)

448. Parental Recollections

377

(1)

JANE TAYLOR (1783-1824)

377

(1)

449. The Star

377

(1)

LEIGH HUNT (1784-1859)

378

(1)

450. Rondeau

378

(1)

THOMAS LOVE PEACOCK (1785-1866)

378

(2)

451. Rich and Poor: or, Saint and Sinner

378

(2)

GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON (1788-1824)

380

(6)

452. She Walks in Beauty

380

(1)

453. from Don Juan `So, we'll go no more a roving'

380

(1)

454. from Don Juan `I would to Heaven that I were so much Clay'

381

(1)

455. `Nine souls more went in her: the long-boat still'

381

(3)

456. `Alas! they were so young, so beautiful'

384

(2)

CHARLES WOLFE (1791-1823)

386

(1)

457. The Burial of Sir John Moore

386

(1)

PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY (1792-1822)

387

(7)

458. from Hellas `The world's great age begins anew'

387

(1)

459. from The Triumph of Life `Struck to the heart by this sad pageantry'

388

(1)

460. Ozymandias

389

(1)

461. Sonnet: England in 1819

389

(1)

462. Ode to the West Wind

390

(2)

463. The Question

392

(1)

464. To----:`Music, when soft voices die'

393

(1)

465. Lines: `When the lamp is shattered'

393

(1)

JOHN CLARE (1793-1864)

394

(3)

466. A Vision

394

(1)

467. `I Am'

394

(1)

468. Song: `I hid my love when young while I'

395

(1)

469. `I found a ball of grass among the hay'

396

(1)

470. `The sheep get up and make their many tracks'

396

(1)

471. `The wild duck startles like a sudden thought'

396

(1)

JOHN KEATS (1795-1821)

397

(11)

472. On First Looking into Chapman's Homer

397

(1)

473. from Endymion `A thing of beauty is a joy for ever'

397

(1)

474. from Hyperion: A Fragment `Deep in the shady sadness of a vale'

398

(1)

475. from The Eve of St Agnes `Her faltering hand upon the balustrade'

398

(2)

476. La Belle Dame sans Merci: A Ballad

400

(1)

477. Ode on a Grecian Urn

401

(2)

478. Ode to a Nightingale

403

(2)

479. Ode on Melancholy

405

(1)

480. To Autumn

405

(1)

481. from The Fall of Hyperion: A Dream `Then the tall shade, in drooping linens veiled'

406

(2)

JAMES HENRY (1798-1876)

408

(1)

482. Very Old Man

408

(1)

483. `Another and another and another'

408

(1)

THOMAS HOOD (1799-1845)

409

(1)

484. I Remember, I Remember

409

(1)

WILLIAM BARNES (1801-1886)

410

(4)

485. My Orcha'd in Linden Lea

410

(1)

486. The Turnstile

410

(1)

487. Lwonesomeness

411

(1)

488. Shellbrook

412

(1)

489. Sister Gone

413

(1)

490. The Hill-Shade

413

(1)

WINTHROP MACKWORTH PRAED (1802-1839)

414

(2)

491. Good-night to the Season

414

(2)

JAMES CLARENCE MANGAN (1803-1849)

416

(2)

492. Twenty Golden Years Ago

416

(2)

THOMAS LOVELL BEDDOES (1803-1849)

418

(2)

493. A Crocodile

418

(1)

494. from Death's Jest-Book Song by Isbrand

418

(2)

495. Dirge

420

(1)

ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING (1806-1861) from Sonnets from the Portuguese

420

(1)

496. XXIV. `Let the world's sharpness, like a clasping knife'

420

(1)

497. The Best Thing in the World

420

(1)

CHARLES TURNER [formerly TENNYSON] (1808-1879)

421

(1)

498. Letty's Globe

421

(1)

499. A Country Dance

421

(1)

EDWARD FITZGERALD (1809-1883) from Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam

422

(2)

500. `Awake! for Morning in the Bowl of Night'

422

(1)

501. `But leave the Wise to wrangle, and with me'

423

(1)

ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON (1809-1892)

424

(11)

502. Ulysses

424

(2)

503. `Break, break, break'

426

(1)

504. from The Princess `Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean'

426

(1)

505. `Now sleeps the crimson petal, now the white'

427

(1)

506. `Come down, O maid, from yonder mountain height'

427

(1)

507. from In Memoriam A.H.H. VII. `Dark house, by which once more I stand'

428

(1)

508. XI. `Calm is the morn without a sound'

428

(1)

509. The Charge of the Light Brigade

429

(1)

510. from Maud `Come into the garden, Maud'

430

(2)

511. Tithonus

432

(2)

WILLIAM MILLER (1810-1872)

434

(1)

512. `Wee Willie Winkie rins through the town'

434

(1)

ROBERT BROWNING (1812-1889)

435

(6)

513. My Last Duchess

435

(1)

514. Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister

436

(2)

515. Meeting at Night

438

(1)

516. Memorabilia

438

(1)

517. Two in the Campagna

439

(1)

518. Love in a Life

440

(1)

EDWARD LEAR (1812-1888)

441

(3)

519. `There was an Old Man on some rocks'

441

(1)

520. `There was an old man who screamed out'

441

(1)

521. The Dong with a Luminous Nose

441

(2)

522. `"How pleasant to know Mr Lear!"'

443

(1)

CHARLOTTE BRONTE (1816-1855) [perhaps EMILY JANE BRONTE]

444

(1)

523. `Often rebuked, yet always back returning'

444

(1)

EMILY JANE BRONTE (1818-1848)

445

(2)

524. `What winter floods what showers of spring'

445

(1)

525. `The night is darkening round me'

445

(1)

526. `All hushed and still within the house'

445

(1)

527. `Long neglect has worn away'

446

(1)

528. `I know not how it falls on me'

446

(1)

529. Remembrance

446

(1)

EMILY JANE BRONTE and CHARLOTTE BRONTE

447

(1)

530. The Visionary

447

(1)

ARTHUR HUGH CLOUGH (1819-1861)

448

(2)

531. `Say not the struggle nought availeth'

448

(1)

532. The Latest Decalogue

448

(1)

533. from Dipsychus `"There is no God," the wicked saith'

449

(1)

JEAN INGELOW (1820-1897)

450

(1)

534. The Long White Seam

450

(1)

MATTHEW ARNOLD (1822-1888)

451

(3)

535. To Marguerite--Continued

451

(1)

536. from Sohrab and Rustum `And night came down over the solemn waste'

451

(1)

537. from The Scholar-Gipsy `O born in days when wits were fresh and clear'

452

(1)

538. Dover Beach

453

(1)

COVENTRY PATMORE (1823-1896)

454

(1)

539. Magna est Veritas

454

(1)

540. Arbor Vitoe

455

(1)

WILLIAM ALLINGHAM (1824-1889)

455

(1)

541. `Everything passes and vanishes'

455

(1)

542. `No funeral gloom, my dears, when I am gone'

455

(1)

GEORGE MEREDITH (1828-1909) from Modern Love

456

(2)

543. XXXIV. `Madam would speak with me. So, now it comes'

456

(1)

544. XLVII. `We saw the swallows gathering in the sky'

456

(1)

545. L. `Thus piteously Love closed what he begat'

457

(1)

546. Lucifer in Starlight

457

(1)

DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI (1828-1882)

458

(2)

547. A Half-Way Pause

458

(1)

548. Sudden Light

458

(1)

549. A Match with the Moon

459

(1)

550. The Woodspurge

459

(1)

CHRISTINA G. ROSSETTI (1830-1894)

460

(15)

551. Goblin Market

460

(12)

552. From the Antique

472

(1)

553. May

473

(1)

554. Somewhere or Other

473

(1)

555. A Dirge

473

(1)

556. A Christmas Carol

474

(1)

557. `Summer is Ended'

475

(1)

LEWIS CARROLL [CHARLES LUTWIDGE DODGSON] (1832-1898)

475

(2)

558. `How doth the little crocodile'

475

(1)

559. `"You are old, Father William," the young man said'

475

(1)

560. Jabberwocky

476

(1)

RICHARD WATSON DIXON (1833-1900)

477

(1)

561. Dream

477

(1)

WILLIAM MORRIS (1834-1896)

478

(2)

562. Summer Dawn

478

(1)

563. Another for the Briar Rose

479

(1)

564. Pomona

479

(1)

JAMES THOMSON (1834-1882)

480

(5)

565. In the Room

480

(5)

ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE (1837-1909)

485

(8)

566. A Leave-Taking

485

(1)

567. The Leper

486

(3)

568. The Garden of Proserpine

489

(3)

569. from Atalanta in Calydon `When the hounds of spring are on winter's traces'

492

(1)

COSMO MONKHOUSE (1840-1901)

493

(1)

570. Any Soul to Any Body

493

(1)

THOMAS HARDY (1840-1928)

494

(7)

571. The Darkling Thrush

494

(1)

572. The Self-Unseeing

495

(1)

573. Channel Firing

495

(1)

574. The Convergence of the Twain

496

(1)

575. The Walk

497

(1)

576. The Voice

498

(1)

577. After a Journey

498

(1)

578. At Castle Boterel

499

(1)

579. During Wind and Rain

500

(1)

580. Afterwards

501

(1)

GERARD M. HOPKINS (1844-1889)

501

(10)

581. The Wreck of the Deutschland

501

(7)

582. God's Grandeur

508

(1)

583. The Windhover

508

(1)

584. Pied Beauty

509

(1)

585. `As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies draw flame'

509

(1)

586. Spelt from Sibyl's Leaves

509

(1)

587. `I wake and feel the fell of dark, not day'

510

(1)

588. `Thou art indeed just, Lord, if I contend'

510

(1)

ROBERT BRIDGES (1844-1930)

511

(1)

589. Ghosts

511

(1)

590. `Who goes there? God knows. I'm nobody. How should I answer?'

511

(1)

WILLIAM ERNEST HENLEY (1849-1903)

511

(1)

591. To W.R.

511

(1)

ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON (1850-1894)

512

(2)

592. Requiem

512

(1)

593. A Mile an'a Bittock

512

(1)

594. `My house, I Say. But hark to the sunny doves'

513

(1)

595. `It's an owercome sooth for age an' youth'

513

(1)

596. `I have trod the upward and the downward slope'

514

(1)

OSCAR WILDE (1854-1900) from The Ballad of Reading Gaol

514

(2)

597. I. `He did not wear his scarlet coat'

514

(2)

JOHN DAVIDSON (1857-1909)

516

(3)

598. Thirty Bob a Week

516

(3)

DOLLIE RADFORD (1858-1920)

519

(1)

599. Soliloquy of a Maiden Aunt

519

(1)

A. E. HOUSMAN (1859-1936)

520

(4)

600. from A Shropshire Lad XVI. `It nods and curtseys and recovers'

520

(1)

601. XL. `Into my heart an air that kills'

520

(1)

602. from Last Poems III. `Her strong enchantments failing'

521

(1)

603. XXVII. `The sigh that heaves the grasses'

521

(1)

604. XXXVII. Epitaph on an Army of Mercenaries

521

(1)

605. XL. `Tell me not here, it needs not saying'

522

(1)

606. `I to my perils'

522

(1)

607. `Crossing alone the nighted ferry'

523

(1)

608. `Because I liked you better'

523

(1)

609. `Here dead lie we because we did not choose'

523

(1)

610. `When the bells justle in the tower'

524

(1)

611. `Some can gaze and not be sick'

524

(1)

W. B. YEATS (1865-1939)

524

(6)

612. The Sorrow of Love [1892]

524

(1)

613. The Sorrow of Love [1925]

524

(1)

614. When You Are Old

525

(1)

615. The Second Coming

525

(1)

616. Sailing to Byzantium

526

(1)

617. Leda and the Swan

527

(1)

618. Among School Children

527

(2)

619. Byzantium

529

(1)

RUDYARD KIPLING (1865-1936)

530

(5)

620. The Story of Uriah

530

(1)

621. The Vampire

531

(1)

622. A Death-Bed

531

(1)

623. Recessional

532

(1)

624. Danny Deever

533

(1)

625. The Fabulists

534

(1)

ERNEST DOWSON (1867-1900)

535

(1)

626. `They are not long, the weeping and the laughter'

535

(1)

CHARLOTTE MEW (1869-1928)

535

(1)

627. Sea Love

535

(1)

628. I so liked Spring

536

(1)

629. A Quoi Bon Dire

536

(1)

HILAIRE BELLOC (1870-1953)

536

(1)

630. On a General Election

536

(1)

J. M. SYNGE (1871-1909)

537

(1)

631. On an Island

537

(1)

632. He Understands the Great Cruelty of Death

537

(1)

WALTER DE LA MARE (1873-1956)

537

(1)

633. Napoleon

537

(1)

634. Fare Well

538

(1)

E. C. BENTLEY (1875-1956)

538

(1)

635. `Sir Humphry Davy'

538

(1)

636. `George the Third'

539

(1)

637. `Sir Christopher Wren'

539

(1)

EDWARD THOMAS (1878-1917)

539

(5)

638. Old Man

539

(1)

639. The Barn and the Down

540

(1)

640. A Tale

541

(1)

641. `Here once flint walls'

541

(1)

642. Aspens

541

(1)

643. Rain

542

(1)

644. Thaw

542

(1)

645. Tall Nettles

543

(1)

646. It rains

543

(1)

647. `Out in the dark over the snow'

543

(1)

JOHN MASEFIELD (1878-1967)

544

(1)

648. Sonnet: `I saw the ramparts of my native land'

544

(1)

649. Autumn Ploughing

544

(1)

650. An Epilogue

545

(1)

JAMES STEPHENS (1882-1950)

545

(1)

651. The Cage

545

(1)

652. A Glass of Beer

546

(1)

D. H. LAWRENCE (1885-1930)

546

(7)

653. Snake

546

(2)

654. Humming-Bird

548

(1)

655. Thought

549

(1)

656. Bavarian Gentians

549

(1)

657. The Ship of Death

549

(4)

HUMBERT WOLFE (1886-1940)

553

(1)

658. `You cannot hope'

553

(1)

FRANCES CORNFORD (1886-1960)

553

(1)

659. Childhood

553

(1)

660. To a Fat Lady Seen from the Train

553

(1)

SIEGFRIED SASSOON (1886-1967)

554

(1)

661. `Blighters'

554

(1)

662. Base Details

554

(1)

663. The General

554

(1)

EDWIN MUIR (1887-1959)

555

(1)

664. Then

555

(1)

RUPERT BROOKE (1887-1915)

555

(1)

665. Heaven

555

(1)

ELIZABETH DARYUSH (1887-1977)

556

(1)

666. `Children of wealth in your warm nursery'

556

(1)

667. Still-Life

557

(1)

R. A. KNOX (1888-1957)

557

(1)

668a. `There once was a man who said "God'

557

(1)

668b. with a reply ANONYMOUS: `Dear Sir, Your astonishment's odd'

557

(1)

T. S. ELIOT (1888-1965)

557

(10)

669. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

557

(4)

670. Morning at the Window

561

(1)

671. Hysteria

561

(1)

672. La Figlia Che Piange

562

(1)

673. Sweeney Among the Nightingales

562

(1)

674. from The Waste Land IV. Death by Water

563

(1)

675. Marina

564

(1)

676. from Four Quartets Little Gidding, II.

565

(2)

ARTHUR WALEY (1889-1966)

567

(1)

677. The Ejected Wife

567

(1)

678. `Yellow dusk: messenger fails to appear'

567

(1)

679. `In her boudoir, the young lady,--unacquainted with grief'

567

(1)

IVOR GURNEY (1890-1937)

568

(2)

680. La Gorgue

568

(1)

681. The Soaking

568

(1)

682. First March

569

(1)

683. Behind the Line

569

(1)

684. To God

570

(1)

ISAAC ROSENBERG (1890-1918)

570

(3)

685. God

570

(1)

686. The Troop Ship

571

(1)

687. August 1914

571

(1)

688. Break of Day in the Trenches

572

(1)

689. Louse Hunting

572

(1)

HUGH MACDIARMID [CHRISTOPHER MURRAY GRIEVE] (1892-1978)

573

(5)

690. Empty Vessel

573

(1)

691. A Vision of Myself

573

(2)

692. O Wha's the Bride?

575

(1)

693. The Spur of Love

576

(1)

694. Cattle Show

576

(1)

695. Of John Davidson

576

(1)

696. Perfect

577

(1)

697. The Caledonian Antisyzygy

577

(1)

WILFRED OWEN (1893-1918)

578

(4)

698. Anthem for Doomed Youth

578

(1)

699. Dulce et Decorum Est

578

(1)

700. Strange Meeting

579

(1)

701. Arms and the Boy

580

(1)

702. The Show

580

(1)

703. The Send-Off

581

(1)

ROBERT GRAVES (1895-1985)

582

(5)

704. A False Report

582

(1)

705. Angry Samson

582

(1)

706. Love without Hope

583

(1)

707. The Cool Web

583

(1)

708. Warning to Children

583

(1)

709. Welsh Incident

584

(2)

710. To Juan at the Winter Solstice

586

(1)

AUSTIN CLARKE (1896-1974)

587

(5)

711. The Planter's Daughter

587

(1)

712. Martha Blake

587

(2)

713. Penal Law

589

(1)

714. Miss Marnell

589

(1)

715. from Eighteenth Century Harp Songs I. Mabel Kelly

590

(1)

716. II. Gracey Nugent

591

(1)

717. III. Peggy Browne

592

(1)

EDMUND BLUNDEN (1896-1974)

592

(1)

718. Report on Experience

592

(1)

BASIL BUNTING (1900-1985) from Villon

593

(1)

719. `Remember, imbeciles and wits'

593

(1)

720. `Came to me'

594

(1)

STEVIE SMITH (1902-1971)

594

(2)

721. Pad, pad

594

(1)

722. Not Waving but Drowning

595

(1)

723. Songe d'Athalie

595

(1)

724. Magna est Veritas

595

(1)

725. Was it not curious?

596

(1)

ROY CAMPBELL (1902-1957)

596

(1)

726. On Some South African Novelists

596

(1)

727. On a Shipmate, Pero Moniz, dying at Sea

597

(1)

NORMAN CAMERON (1905-1953)

597

(1)

728. Naked among the Trees

597

(1)

729. Forgive me, Sire

598

(1)

SAMUEL BECKETT (1906-1989)

598

(2)

730. Something there

598

(1)

731. Roundelay

599

(1)

732. What is the word

599

(1)

SIR JOHN BETJEMAN (1906-1984)

600

(1)

733. Death of King George V

600

(1)

734. On Seeing an Old Poet in the Cafe Royal

601

(1)

SIR WILLIAM EMPSON (1906-1984)

601

(4)

735. To an Old Lady

601

(1)

736. Homage to the British Museum

602

(1)

737. Note on Local Flora

602

(1)

738. Aubade

603

(1)

739. Missing Dates

604

(1)

740. Let it go

604

(1)

741. Chinese Ballad

605

(1)

W. H. AUDEN (1907-1973)

605

(6)

742. `"O where are you going?" said reader to rider'

605

(1)

743. Adolescence

606

(1)

744. On This Island

606

(1)

745. Lullaby

607

(1)

746. Musee des Beaux Arts

608

(1)

747. Epitaph on a Tyrant

608

(1)

748. The Fall of Rome

609

(1)

749. The Shield of Achilles

609

(2)

LOUIS MACNEICE (1907-1963)

611

(3)

750. Snow

611

(1)

751. Bagpipe music

611

(1)

752. Chateau Jackson

612

(1)

753. Charon

613

(1)

F. T. PRINCE (1912- )

614

(2)

754. An Epistle to a Patron

614

(2)

ANNE RIDLER (1912- )

616

(1)

755. Now Philippa Is Gone

616

(1)

R. S. THOMAS (1913- )

616

(2)

756. On the Farm

616

(1)

757. A Peasant

617

(1)

758. January

618

(1)

759. Evans

618

(1)

HENRY REED (1914-1986)

618

(3)

760. Dull Sonnet

618

(1)

761. from Lessons of the War 1. Naming of Parts

619

(1)

762. 2. Judging Distances

620

(1)

DYLAN THOMAS (1914-1953)

621

(4)

763. The force that through the green fuse drives the flower

621

(1)

764. Light breaks where no sun shines

621

(1)

765. Should lanterns shine

622

(1)

766. I have longed to move away

623

(1)

767. Twenty-four years

623

(1)

768. The Hunchback in the Park

624

(1)

ALUN LEWIS (1915-1944)

625

(1)

769. The Peasants

625

(1)

TOM SCOTT (1918-1995)

625

(1)

770. Ballat O the Leddies O Langsyne

625

(1)

KEITH DOUGLAS (1920-1944)

626

(2)

771. Sportsmen

626

(1)

772. Vergissmeinnicht

627

(1)

EDWIN MORGAN (1920- )

628

(1)

773. The Computer's First Christmas Card

628

(1)

DONALD DAVIE (1922-1995)

629

(1)

774. The Garden Party

629

(1)

775. The Mushroom Gatherers

629

(1)

776. Tunstall Forest

630

(1)

PHILIP LARKIN (1922-1985)

630

(6)

777. At Grass

630

(1)

778. Absences

631

(1)

779. Days

631

(1)

780. Age

632

(1)

781. Mr Bleaney

632

(1)

782. Afternoons

633

(1)

783. Love Songs in Age

633

(1)

784. As Bad as a Mile

634

(1)

785. Faith Healing

634

(1)

786. Homage to a Government

635

(1)

CHARLES TOMLINSON (1927- )

636

(2)

787. At Vshchizh

636

(1)

788. To His Wife

636

(1)

789. The Door

636

(1)

790. Saving the Appearances

637

(1)

IAIN CRICHTON SMITH (1928-1998)

638

(1)

791. Old Woman

638

(1)

THOMAS KINSELLA (1928- )

639

(3)

792. Ancestor

639

(1)

793. Tear

639

(3)

PETER PORTER (1929- )

642

(1)

794. Epigrams, Book IV, xviii

642

(1)

U. A. FANTHORPE (1929- )

642

(1)

795. BC: AD

642

(1)

796. Portraits of Tudor Statesmen

643

(1)

THOM GUNN (1929- )

643

(2)

797. The Feel of Hands

643

(1)

798. Considering the Snail

644

(1)

799. Terminal

644

(1)

DEREK WALCOTT (1930- )

645

(1)

800. Missing the Sea

645

(1)

ANTHONY THWAITE (1930- )

645

(3)

801. `Clouds now and then'

645

(1)

802. `Girls planting paddy'

645

(1)

803. `Winter withering'

645

(1)

804. On Consulting `Contemporary Poets of the English Language'

646

(2)

805. At Evening

648

(1)

TED HUGHES (1930-1998)

648

(4)

806. View of a Pig

648

(1)

807. Hawk Roosting

649

(1)

808. Esther's Tomcat

650

(1)

809. Pike

650

(2)

ELAINE FEINSTEIN (1930- ) from Insomnia

652

(2)

810. `In my enormous city it is--night'

652

(1)

811. An Attempt at Jealousy

652

(2)

GEOFFREY HILL (1932- )

654

(3)

812. The Turtle Dove

654

(1)

813. Ovid in the Third Reich

654

(1)

814. September Song

655

(1)

815. from Mercian Hymns XXI. `Cohorts of charabancs'

655

(1)

816. from The Pentecost Castle 8. `And you my spent heart's treasure'

656

(1)

817. from An Apology for the Revival of Christian Architecture in England 12. The Eve of St Mark

656

(1)

818. To the High Court of Parliament

657

(1)

SEAMUS HEANEY (1939- )

657

(6)

819. Death of a Naturalist

657

(1)

820. Ugolino

658

(2)

821. The Grauballe Man

660

(2)

822. The Pitchfork

662

(1)

Acknowledgements

663

(6)

Index of Authors

669

(3)

Index of Foreign Authors in Translation or Imitation

672

(1)

Index of Titles and First Lines

673

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Excerpts

Excerpt

ANONYMOUS

[THIRTEENTH CENTURY]

Sumer is icumen in--

Lhude sing, cuccu!

Groweth sed and bloweth med

And springth the wude nu.

Sing, cuccu!

Awe bleteth after lomb,

Lhouth after calve cu,

Bulluc sterteth, bucke verteth.

Murie sing, cuccu!

Cuccu, cuccu,

Wel singes thu, cuccu!

Ne swik thu naver nu!

Sing, cuccu, nu! Sing, cuccu!

Sing, cuccu! Sing, cuccu, nu!

6 Awe ] ewe

7 Lhouth ] lows

8 verteth ] farts

12 swik ] leave off

[FOURTEENTH CENTURY]

Ich am of Irlaunde

Ant of the holy londe of irlande

Gode sir pray ich ye

For of saynte charite

Come ant daunce wyt me

In irlaunde.

Maiden in the mor lay,

In the mor lay,

Sevenyst fulle, sevenist fulle,

Maiden in the mor lay,

In the mor lay,

Sevenistes fulle ant a day.

Welle was hire mete;

Wat was hire mete?

The primerole ant the,--

Welle was hire mete;

Wat was hire mete?--

The primerole ant the violet.

Welle was hire dryng;

Wat was hire dryng?

The chelde water of the welle-spring.

Welle was hire bour;

Wat was hire bour?

The rede rose an te lilie flour.

1 mor ] moor lay ] dwelt

3 Sevenyst ] seven nights

7 mete ] food

9 primerole ] primrose

14 dryng ] drink

16 chelde ] cold

JOHN GOWER

1330?-1408

4 from Confessio Amantis [Book Four, lines 371-423]

I finde hou whilom ther was on,

Whos namé was Pymaleon,

Which was a lusti man of yowthe:

The werkés of entaile he cowthe

Above alle othre men as tho;

And thurgh fortune it fell him so,

As he whom lové schal travaile,

He made an ymage of entaile

Lich to a womman in semblance

Of feture and of contienance,

So fair yit neveré was figure.

Riht as a lyvés creature

Sche semeth, for of yvor whyt

He hath hire wroght of such delit,

That sche was rody on the cheke

And red on bothe hire lippés eke;

Whereof that he himself beguileth.

For with a goodly lok sche smyleth,

So that thurgh pure impression

Of his ymaginacion

With al the herte of his corage

His love upon this faire ymage

He sette, and hire of lové preide;

Bot sche no word ayeinward seide.

The longé day, what thing he dede,

This ymage in the samé stede

Was evere bi, that até mete

He wolde hire serve and preide hire ete,

And putte unto hire mowth the cuppe;

And whan the bord was taken uppe,

He hath hire into chambre nome,

And after, whan the nyht was come,

He leide hire in his bed al nakid.

He was forwept, he was forwakid,

He keste hire coldé lippés ofte,

And wissheth that thei weren softe,

And ofte he rouneth in hire Ere,

And ofte his arm now hier now there

He leide, as he hir wolde embrace,

And evere among he axeth grace,

As thogh sche wisté what he mente:

And thus himself he gan tormente

With such desese of lovés peine,

That noman mihte him moré peine.

Bot how it were, of his penance

He madé such continuance

Fro dai to nyht, and preith so longe,

That his preiere is underfonge,

Which Venus of hire grace herde;

Be nyhte and whan that he worst ferde,

And it lay in his nakede arm,

The colde ymage he fieleth warm

Of fleissh and bon and full of lif.

1 whilom ] formerly on ] one

4 entaile ] sculpture

5 as tho ] then

7 travaile ] trouble

12 lyvés ] living

13 yvor ] ivory

21 corage ] spirit

23 preide ] prayed

31 nome ] taken

34 forwept ] worn out with weeping

37 rouneth ] whispers

41 wisté ] knew

48 underfonge ] accepted

50 ferde ] fared

WILLIAM LANGLAND

1330?-1386?

5-6 from Piers Plowman

5 [ Prologue , lines 1-45]

In a somer seson whan soft was the sonne

I shope me in shroudes as I a shepe were;

In habite as an heremite unholy of workes

Went wyde in this world wondres to here.

Ac on a May mornynge on Malverne hulles

Me befel a ferly, of fairy me thoughte:

I was wery forwandred and went me to reste

Under a brode banke bi a bornes side,

And as I lay and lened and loked in the wateres,

I slombred in a slepyng, it sweyved so merye.

Than gan I to meten a merveilouse swevene,

That I was in a wildernesse, wist I never where.

As I bihelde into the est, an hiegh to the sonne,

I seigh a toure on a toft trielich ymaked;

A deep dale binethe, a dongeon thereinne

With depe dyches and derke and dredful of sight.

A faire felde ful of folke fonde I there bytwene,

Of alle maner of men, the mene and the riche,

Worchyng and wandryng as the worlde asketh.

Some putten hem to the plow, pleyed ful selde,

In settyng and in sowyng swonken ful harde,

And wonnen that wastours with glotonye destruyeth.

And some putten hem to pruyde, apparailed hem thereafter,

In contenaunce of clothyng comen disgised.

In prayers and in penance putten hem manye,

Al for love of owre Lorde lyveden ful streyte,

In hope forto have heveneriche blisse;

As ancres and heremites that holden hem in here selles,

And coveiten nought in contre to kairen aboute,

For no likerous liflode her lykam to plese.

And somme chosen chaffare; they cheven the bettere,

As it semeth to owre syght that suche men thryveth;

And somme murthes to make as mynstralles conneth,

And geten gold with here glee giltless, I leve.

Ac japers and jangelers, Judas chylderen,

Feynen hem fantasies and foles hem maketh,

And han here witte at wille to worche, yif they sholde;

That Paule precheth of hem I nel nought preve it here;

Qui turpiloquium loquitur etc . is Luciferes hyne.

Bidders and beggeres fast about yede

Woth her bely and her bagge of bred ful ycrammed;

Fayteden for here fode, foughten atte ale;

In glotonye, God it wote, gon hij to bedde,

And risen with ribaudye, tho roberdes knaves;

Slepe and sori sleuthe seweth hem evre.

2 shope ] dressed shroudes ] outer garments

6 ferly ... thoughte ] marvel, seemingly of the supernatural realm

7 forwandred gone astray

8 bornes ] brook's

10 sweyved ] sounded

11 meten ] dreamed swevene ] dream

12 wist ] knew

14 seigh ] saw toft ] hillock trielich ] choicely

20 selde ] seldom

21 settyng ] planting swonken ] worked

22 wonnen that ] effected that which

23 putten hem to pruyde ] devoted themselves to fine array thereafter ] accordingly

24 contenaunce ] display

26 streyte ] strictly

28 ancres ] anchorites here ] their (as below)

29 kairen ] travel

30 likerous lifelode ] pleasurable means of life her ] their (as below) lykam ] body

31 chaffare ] trade cheven ] succeeded

33 murthes ] entertainment conneth ] know

34 glee ] music leve ] believe

35 japers and jangelers ] jesters and tale-tellers

36 Feynen ] invent fantasies ] tricks

37 And ... sholde ] And had intelligence enough to work if they had to

38 nel nought preve ] will not attest

39 Qui ... hyne ] He who slanders is Lucifer's servant

40 Bidders and beggeres ] those who made a trade of begging yede ] went

42 Fayteden ] shammed

43 wote ] knows hij ] they

44 tho roberdes ] those robbers

45 sleuthe ] sloth seweth ] follows

6 [Passus I, lines 140-88]

`It is a kynde knowyng,' quod she, `that kenneth in thine herte

For to lovye thi Lorde lever than thiselve;

No dedly synne to do, dey though thou sholdest:

This I trowe be treuthe; who can teche the better,

Loke thow suffre hym to sey and sithen lere it after.

For thus witnesseth his worde, worche thou thereafter:

For Trewthe telle that love is triacle of hevene;

May no synne be on him sene that useth that spise,

And alle his werkes he wroughte with love, as him liste,

And lered it Moises for the levest thing and moste like to hevene,

And also the plante of pees, moste precious of vertues.

For hevene myghte noughte holden it, it was so hevy of hymself,

Tyl it hadde of the erthe yeten his fylle.

And whan it haved of this folde flesshe and blode taken

Was nevere leef upon lynde lighter thereafter,

And portatyf and persant as the poynt of a nedle,

That myghte non armure it lette ne none heigh walles.

Forthi is love leder of the lordes folke of hevene,

And a mene, as the maire is bitwene the kyng and the comune;

Right so is love a ledere and the lawe shapeth;

Upon man for his mysdedes the merciment he taxeth.

And, for to knowe it kyndely, it comseth bi myght,

And in the herte there is the hevede and the heigh welle;

For in kynde knowynge in herte there a myghte bigynneth,

And that falleth to the fader that formed us alle,

Loked on us with love and lete his sone deye

Mekely for owre mysdedes, to amende us alle.

And yet wolde he hem no woo that wrought hym that peyne,

But mekelich with mouthe mercy he bisoughte

To have pite of that poeple that peyned hym to deth.

Here myghtow see ensamples in hymselve one,

That he was mightful and meke and mercy gan graunte

To hem that hongen him an heigh and his herte thirled.

Forthi I rede yow riche: haveth reuthe of the pouere;

Though ye be myghtful to mote, beth meke in yowre werkes.

For the same mesures that ye mete, amys other elles,

Ye shullen ben weyen therewyth whan ye wende hennes:

Eadem mensura qua mensi fueritis, remecietur vobis.

For though ye be treewe of yowre tongue and trewliche wynne,

And as chaste as a childe that in cherche wepeth,

But if ye loved lelliche and lende the poure,

Such good as God yow sent godelich parteth,

Ye ne have na more meryte in masse ne in houres

Than Malkyn of here maydenhode that no man desireth.

For James the gentil jugged in his bokes

That faith without the faite is righte no thinge worthi,

And as ded as a dore-tree but if the dedes folwe:

Fides sine operibus mortua est, etc.

Forthi chastite withoute charite worth cheyned in helle;

It is as lewed as a laumpe that no lighte is inne.'

2 lever ] dearer

3 dey ] die

5 sithen ] since lere ] teach

6 worche ] perform

7 triacle ] balm

8 spise ] spice (figuratively)

10 lered it Moises ] taught it (love) to Moses

11 pees ] peace

13 yeten ] eaten

14 haved ] had folde ] earth

15 lynde ] linden tree

16 portatyf and persant ] quick and piercing

17 lette ] hinder

19 mene ] intermediary maire ] mayor comune] commonalty

21 merciment he taxeth ] fine he assesses

22 knowe ... myght ] recognize it (love) by instinct, it springs up in the heart by divine power

23 hevede ] source

25 falleth ] appertains

28 wolde ... woo ] wished them no harm

30 pite ] pity

31 one ] alone

33 thirled ] pierced

34 rede ] advise reuthe ] pity

35 mote ] summon to a law court

36 amys other elles ] amiss or otherwise

37 weyen ] weighed hennes ] hence

38 Eadem ... vobis ] with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again

39 trewliche wynne ] make honest profit

41 But if ] unless (as below) lelliche ] faithfully lende ] give

42 parteth ] share with each other

43 houres ] the daily services of the church

46 faite ] action

47 dore-tree ] door-post

48 Fides ... est ] faith without works is dead

49 worth ] is going to be

50 lewed ] useless

GEOFFREY CHAUCER

1343?-1400

7-10 from The Canterbury Tales

7 [ General Prologue , lines 1-18]

Whan that Aprill with his shourés soote

The droghte of March hath perced to the roote,

And bathed every veyne in swich licour

Of which vertu engendred is the flour;

Whan Zephirus eek with his sweeté breeth

Inspired hath in every holt and heeth

The tendre croppés, and the yongé sonne

Hath in the Ram his halvé cours yronne,

And smalé fowelés maken melodye,

That slepen al the nyght with open ye

(So priketh hem nature in hir corages);

Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages,

And palmerés for to seken straunge strondes,

To ferné halwes, kowthe in sondry londes;

And specially from every shires ende

Of Engelond to Caunterbury they wende,

The hooly blisful martir for to seke,

That hem hath holpen whan that they were seeke.

1 soote ] sweet

3 licour ] juice

11 priketh ... corages ] nature spurs them in their hearts' desires

14 ferné halwes, kowthe ] distant shrines, known

18 seeke ] sick

8 [ The Wife of Bath's Prologue , lines 1-34]

`Experience, though noon auctoritee

Were in this world, is right ynogh for me

To speke of wo that is in mariage;

For, lordynges, sith I twelve yeer was of age,

Thonked be God that is eterne on lyve,

Housbondes at chirché dore I have had fyve,--

If I so ofte myghte have ywedded bee,--

And alle were worthy men in hir degree.

But me was toold, certeyn, nat longe agoon is,

That sith that Crist ne wente neveré but onis

To weddyng, in the Cane of Galilee,

That by the same ensample taughte he me

That I ne sholdé wedded be but ones.

Herkne eek, lo, which a sharp word for the nones,

Biside a wellé, Jhesus, God and man,

Spak in repreeve of the Samaritan:

"Thou hast yhad fyve housbondés," quod he,

"And that ilké man that now hath thee

Is noght thyn housbonde," thus seyde he certeyn.

What that he mente therby, I kan nat seyn;

But that I axe, why that the fifté man

Was noon housbonde to the Samaritan?

How manye myghte she have in mariage?

Yet herde I nevere tellen in myn age

Upon this nombre diffinicioun.

Men may devyne and glosen, up and doun,

But wel I woot, expres, withouté lye,

God bad us for to wexe and multiplye;

That gentil text kan I wel understonde.

Eek wel I woot, he seyde myn housbonde

Sholde leté fader and mooder, and take to me.

But of no nombre mencion made he,

Of bigamye, or of octogamye;

Why sholdé men thanne speke of it vileynye?'

5 on lyve ] alive

10 sith ] since

14 nones ] occasion

21 axe ] ask

26 glosen ] comment

30 woot ] know

31 leté ] forsake

9 [ The Pardoner's Tale , lines 711-49]

Whan they han goon nat fully half a mile,

Right as they wolde han troden over a stile,

An oold man and a povré with hem mette.

This oldé man ful mekely hem grette,

And seydé thus, `Now, lordés, God yow see!'

The proudeste of thisé riotourés three

Answerde agayn, `What, carl, with sory grace!

Why artow al forwrapped save thy face?

Why lyvestow so longe in so greet age?'

This oldé man gan looke in his visage,

And seydé thus: `For I ne kan nat fynde

A man, though that I walked into Ynde,

Neither in citee ne in no village,

That woldé chaunge his youthé for myn age;

And therfore moot I han myn agé stille,

As longé tyme as it is Goddés wille.

Ne Deeth, allas! ne wol nat han my lyf.

Thus walke I, lyk a restélees kaityf,

And on the ground, which is my moodres gate,

I knokké with my staf, bothe erly and late,

And seyé "Leevé mooder, leet me in!

Lo how I vanysshe, flessh, and blood, and skyn!

Allas! whan shul my bonés been at reste?

Mooder, with yow wolde I chaungé my cheste

That in my chambre longé tyme hath be,

Ye, for an heyré clowt to wrappe in me!"

But yet to me she wol nat do that grace,

For which ful pale and welked is my face.

But, sires, to yow it is no curteisye

To speken to an old man vileynye,

But he trespasse in word, or elles in dede.

In Hooly Writ ye may yourself wel rede:

"Agayns an oold man, hoor upon his heed,

Ye sholde arise;" wherfore I yeve yow reed,

Ne dooth unto an oold man noon harm now,

Namoore than that ye woldé men did to yow

In age, if that ye so longe abyde.

And God be with yow, where ye go or ryde!

I moot go thider as I have to go.'

3 povré ] poor

5 see ] look upon

6 riotourés ] revellers

7 carl ] churl

17 han ] have, take

18 kaityf ] wretch

19 moodres ] mother's

21 Leevé ] dear

24 cheste ] coffer containing valuables

26 heyré clowt ] hair clout, cloth

28 welked ] withered

31 But ] unless

33 Agayns ] in the presence of (respectfully)

34 yeve yow reed ] advise you

10 from Troilus and Criseyde [line 1800-end]

The wrath, as I bigan yow for to seye,

Of Troilus the Grekis boughten deere.

For thousandés his hondés maden deye,

As he that was withouten any peere,

Save Ector, in his tyme, as I kan heere.

But weilawey, save only Goddés wille!

Despitously hym slough the fierse Achille.

And whan that he was slayn in this manere,

His lighté goost ful blisfully is went

Up to the holughnesse of the eighthé spere,

In convers letyng everich element;

And ther he saugh, with ful avysement,

The erratik sterrés, herkenyng armonye

With sownés ful of hevenyssh melodie.

And down from thennés faste he gan avyse

This litel spot of erthe, that with the se

Embraced is, and fully gan despise

This wrecched world, and held al vanite

To respect of the pleyn felicite

That is in hevene above; and at the laste,

Ther he was slayn, his lokyng down he caste.

And in hymself he lough right at the wo

Of hem that wepten for his deth so faste;

And dampned al oure werk that foloweth so

The blyndé lust, the which that may nat laste,

And sholden al oure herte on heven caste.

And forth he wenté, shortly for to telle,

Ther as Mercurye sorted hym to dwelle.

Swich fyn hath, lo, this Troilus for love!

Swich fyn hath al his greté worthynesse!

Swich fyn hath his estat real above,

Swich fyn his lust, swich fyn hath his noblesse!

Swych fyn hath falsé worldés brotelnesse!

And thus bigan his lovyng of Criseyde,

As I have told, and in this wise he deyde.

O yongé, fresshé folkes, he or she,

In which that love up groweth with youre age,

Repeyreth hom fro worldly vanyte,

And of youre herte up casteth the visage

To thilké God that after his ymage

Yow made, and thynketh al nys but a faire

This world, that passeth soone as floures faire.

And loveth hym, the which that right for love

Upon a crois, oure soulés for to beye,

First starf, and roos, and sit in hevene above;

For he nyl falsen no wight, dar I seye,

That wol his herte al holly on hym leye.

And syn he best to love is, and most meke,

What nedeth feynede love's for to seke?

Lo here, of payens corsed oldé rites,

Lo here, what alle hire goddés may availle;

Lo here, thise wrecched worldés appetites;

Lo here, the fyn and guerdoun for travaille

Of Jove, Appollo, of Mars, of swich rascaille!

Lo here, the forme of oldé clerkis speche

In poetrie, if ye hire bokés seche.

O moral Gower, this book I directe

To the and to the, philosophical Strode,

To vouchen sauf, ther nede is, to correcte,

Of youre benignites and zelés goode.

And to that sothefast Crist, that starf on rode,

With al myn herte of mercy evere I preye,

And to the Lord right thus I speke and seye:

Thow oon, and two, and thre, eterne on lyve,

That regnest ay in thre, and two, and oon,

Uncircumscript, and al maist circumscrive,

Us from visible and invisible foon

Defende, and to thy mercy, everichon,

So make us, Jesus, for thi mercy digne,

For love of mayde and moder thyn benigne.

Amen.

7 slough ] slew

11 convers letyng ] leaving on the other side

12 avysement ] observation 13 herkenyng ] attentively listening to

22 lough ] laughed

24 dampned ] damned

29 fyn ] end

33 brotelnesse ] frailty

44 beye ] ransom

45 starf ] died roos ] rose

46 falsen ] prove false to

50 payens ] pagans

61 sothefast ] firm to the truth rode] cross

67 foon ] foes

JOHN LYDGATE

1370?-1449/50

11 from The Daunce of Death [stanzas LXIII-LXIV]

Dethe to the Mynstralle

O thow Minstral that cannest so note and pipe

Un-to folkes for to do plesaunce

By the right honde anoone I shal thee gripe

With these other to go up-on my daunce

Ther is no scape nowther a-voydaunce

On no side to contrarie my sentence

For yn musik be crafte and accordaunce

Who maister is shew his science.

The Mynstral answereth

This newe daunce is to me so straunge

Wonder dyverse and passyngli contrarie

The dredful fotyng dothe so ofte chaunge

And the mesures so ofte sithes varie

Whiche now to me is no thyng necessarie

If hit were so that I myght asterte

But many a man if I shal not tarie

Ofte daunceth but no thynge of herte.

[after the French]

1 note] make musical notes

5 nowther ] nor

12 sithes ] times

14 asterte ] escape

16 no thynge of herte ] not with all his heart

ANONYMOUS

[FIFTEENTH CENTURY]

Adam lay ibowndyn, bowndyn in a bond,

Fowre thowsand wynter thowt he not to long.

And al was for an appil, an appil that he tok,

As clerkes fyndyn wretyn in here book.

Ne hadde the appil take ben, the appil take ben,

Ne hadde never our Lady a ben hevene qwen.

Blyssid be the tyme that appil take was,

Therfore we mown syngyn `Deo gracias!'

1 ibowndyn ] bound

4 here ] their

8 mown ] may Deo gracias ] Thanks be to God

The Corpus Christi Carol

Lully, lulley; lully, lulley;

The fawcon hath born my mak away.

He bare hym up, he bare hym down;

He bare hym into an orchard brown.

In that orchard ther was an hall,

That was hangid with purpill and pall.

And in that hall ther was a bede;

Hit was hangid with gold so rede.

And yn that bed ther lythe a knyght,

His wowndes bledyng day and nyght.

By that bedes side ther kneleth a may,

And she wepeth both nyght and day.

And by that beddes side ther stondith a ston,

`Corpus Christi' wretyn theron.

2 mak ] mate

11 may ] maiden

14 Corpus Christi ] the body of Christ

I syng of a mayden that is makeles,

Kyng of alle kynges to here sone che ches.

He cam also stylle ther his moder was

As dew in Aprylle that fallyt on the gras.

He cam also stylle to his moderes bowr

As dew in Aprille that fallyt on the flour.

He cam also stylle ther his moder lay

As dew in Aprille that fallyt on the spray.

Moder and maydyn was never non but che--

Wel may swych a lady Godes moder be!

1 makeles ] without a mate, matchless

2 ches ] chose

3 also ] as ther ] where

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The Oxford Book of English Verse

9780192141828

0192141821

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