Proud world, said I, cease your contest,
And let the mighty Babe alone.
The phoenix builds the phoenix' nest,1
Love's architecture is his own.

The Babe whose birth embraves this

morn

Made his own bed ere He was born. 30

(1646)

CORINNA'S GOING A-MAYING

ROBERT HERRICK

Get up, get up for shame! the blooming

morn

Upon her wings presents the god unshorn.2

See how Aurora throws her fair Fresh-quilted colors through the air; Get up, sweet slug-a-bed, and see The dew bespangling herb and tree. Each flower has wept and bowed toward the east

Above an hour since: yet you not dressed;
Nay! not so much as out of bed?
When all the birds have matins said 10
And sung their thankful hymns, 'tis sin,
Nay, profanation, to keep in,

Whenas a thousand virgins on this day
Spring, sooner than the lark, to fetch in
May.3

Rise and put on your foliage, and be seen To come forth, like the spring-time, fresh

and green,

And sweet as Flora. Take no care For jewels for your gown or hair: Fear not; the leaves will strew Gems in abundance upon you: Besides, the childhood of the day has kept,

20

Against you come, some orient pearls unwept;

Come and receive them while the light Hangs on the dew-locks of the night: And Titan on the eastern hill Retires himself, or else stands still Till you come forth. Wash, dress, be brief in praying:

Few beads are best when once we go a-Maying.

I The phoenix was a mythical bird said to live for centuries; at length it would build a nest, set fire to it, and find a new birth after being consumed in the flames.

2 god unshorn. The sun with all his beams. 3 May. May-blossoms (especially hawthorn). 4 Titan. The sun-god.

60

And take the harmless folly of the time!
We shall grow old apace, and die
Before we know our liberty.
Our life is short, and our days run
As fast away as does the sun;
And, as a vapor or a drop of rain,
Once lost, can ne'er be found again,

So when or you or I are made
A fable, song, or fleeting shade,
All love, all liking, all delight
Lies drowned with us in endless night.
6 green-gown. Tumble on the grass.

And giv'st me, for my bushel sown, Twice ten for one;

Thou mak'st my teeming hen to lay
Her egg each day;

Besides my healthful ewes to bear
Me twins each year;

The while the conduits of my kine
Run cream, for wine.

All these, and better, thou dost send
Me, to this end,

That I should render, for my part, A thankful heart,

Which, fired with incense, I resign,
As wholly thine;

But the acceptance-that must be,
My Christ, by Thee.

(1648)

ON JULIA'S CLOTHES ROBERT HERRICK

50

[St. Cecilia was the patron saint of music, particularly organ music, and a musical society in London used to celebrate her feast day, November 22, with a choral concert. Dryden wrote this and the following ode for these celebrations; that for 1687 was set to music by the Italian composer Draghi. The poet bases his conception on an old philosophic theory that the atoms of the universe were first set in order by means of musical harmony, and continued to form "the music of the spheres." At the close he unites with this idea the Christian theme of the Day of Judgment, imagining that the sound of the divine Trumpet will be the concluding note of this music of creation. The notion that an angel appeared to Cecilia at her music was a part of the legend of that saint.]

From harmony, from heavenly harmony
This universal frame began:
When Nature underneath a heap
Of jarring atoms lay,

And could not heave her head,

The tuneful voice was heard from high, "Arise, ye more than dead!"

Then cold and hot and moist and dry3 In order to their stations leap,

And Music's power obey.

ΙΟ

From harmony, from heavenly harmony
This universal frame began:
From harmony to harmony
Through all the compass of the notes it