LXXXII.

HIS PRAYER TO BEN JONSON.

WHEN I a verse shall make,

WHEN
Know I have prayed thee,

For old religion's sake,

Saint Ben to aid me.

Make the way smooth for me,

When I, thy Herrick,

Honouring thee, on my knee,

Offer my lyric.

Candles I'll give to thee,

And a new altar;

And thou Saint Ben, shalt be

Writ in my psalter.

LXXXIII.

THE NIGHT-PIECE, TO JULIA.

H

ER eyes the glow-worm lend thee, The shooting stars attend thee; And the elves also,

Whose little eyes glow,

Like the sparks of fire, befriend thee.

No will-o'-the-wisp mislight thee;

Nor snake or slow-worm bite thee:

But on, on thy way

Not making a stay,

Since ghost there's none to affright thee.

Let not the dark thee cumber;

What though the moon does slumber?
The stars of the night

Will lend thee their light,
Like tapers clear without number.

Then Julia let me woo thee,
Thus, thus to come unto me:
And when I shall meet

Thy silvery feet

My soul I'll pour into thee.

LXXXIV.

A TERNARY OF LITTLES, UPON A PIPKIN OF JELLY SENT TO A LADY.

A

LITTLE saint best fits a little shrine,

A little prop best fits a little vine,

As my small cruse best fits my little wine.

A little seed best fits a little soil,

A little trade best fits a little toil :

As my small jar best fits my little oil.

A little bin best fits a little bread,

A little garland fits a little head :
As my small stuft best fits my little shed.

A little hearth best fits a little fire,
A little chapel fits a little choir,

As my small bell best fits my little spire.

A little stream best fits a little boat;

A little lead best fits a little float;
As my small pipe best fits my little note.

A little meat best fits a little belly,

As sweetly, lady, give me leave to tell ye, This little pipkin fits this little jelly.

LXXXV.

AN ODE FOR BEN JONSON.

A

H Ben!

Say how or when

Shall we thy guests

Meet at those lyric feasts

Made at the Sun,

The Dog, the Triple Tun,
Where we such clusters had

As made us nobly wild, not mad?
And yet each verse of thine
Outdid the meat, outdid the frolic wine.

My Ben!

Or come agen,

Or send to us

Thy wit's great overplus.

But teach us yet

Wisely to husband it;

Lest we that talent spend ;

And having once brought to an end

That precious stock, the store

Of such a wit the world should have no more.

LXXXVI.

A THANKSGIVING TO GOD FOR HIS

HOUSE.

LORD, thou hast given me a cell

Wherein to dwell;

And little house, whose humble roof

Is weather proof;

Under the spars of which I lie

Both soft and dry.

Where thou, my chamber for to ward,
Hast set a guard

Of harmless thoughts, to watch and keep
Me while I sleep.

Low is my porch, as is my fate,

Both void of state;

And yet the threshold of my door
Is worn by the poor,
Who thither come, and freely get
Good words or meat.

Like as my parlour, so my hall,
And kitchen small;

A little buttery, and therein

A little bin,

Which keeps my little loaf of bread

Unchipped, unflead.

Some brittle sticks of thorn or brier

Make me a fire,

Close by whose living coal I sit,

And glow like it.

Lord, I confess too, when I dine,

The pulse is thine,

And all those other bits that be

There placed by thee.

The worts, the purslain, and the mess