And see the winged lightnings as they fly,
Then, bosom’d in an amber cloud, around
Plumes his wide wings, and seeks Sol’s palace high.
And thou, O warrior maid, invincible,
Arm’d with the terrors of Almighty Jove!
Pallas, Minerva, maiden terrible,
Lov‘st thou to walk the peaceful solemn grove,
In solemn gloom of branches interwove?
Or bear’st thy Egis o‘er the burning field,
Where, like the sea, the waves of battle move?
Or have thy soft piteous eyes beheld
The weary wanderer thro’ the desert rove?
Or does thth’ afflicted man thy heav’nly bosom move?
Blind-man’s Buff
When silver Snow decks Susan’s cloaths,
And jewel hangs at th’ shepherd’s nose,
The blushing bank is all my care,
With hearth so red, and walls so fair;
“Heap the sea-coal; come, heap it higher,
“The oaken log lay on the fire:”
The well-wash’d stools, a circling row,
With lad and lass, how fair the show!
The merry can of nut-brown ale,
The laughing jest, the love-sick tale,
‘Till tir’d of chat, the game begins,
The lasses prick the lads with pins;
Roger from Dolly twitch’d the stool,
She falling, kiss’d the ground, poor fool!
She blush’d so red, with side-long glance
At hob-nail Dick, who griev’d the chance.
But now for Blind-man’s Buff they call;
Of each incumbrance clear the hall —
Jenny her silken kerchief folds,
And blear-ey’d Will the black lot holds;
Now laughing, stops, with ”Silence! hush!”
And Peggy Pout gives Sam a push. —
The Blind-man’s arms, extended wide,
Sam slips between; — ”O woe betide
Thee, clumsy Will!” — but titt‘ring Kate
Is pen’d up in the corner strait!
And now Will’s eyes beheld the play,
He thought his face was t’other way. —
“Now, Kitty, now; what chance hast thou,
“Roger so near thee, Trips; I vow! [”]
She catches him—then Roger ties
His own head up—but not his eyes;
For thro’ the slender cloth he sees,
And runs at Sam, who slips with ease
His clumsy hold; and, dodging round,
Sukey is tumbled on the ground! —
“See what it is to play unfair!
“Where cheating is, there’s mischief there.”
But Roger still pursues the chace, —
“He sees! he sees! [“] cries softly Grace;
“O Roger, thou, unskill’d in art,
“Must, surer bound, go thro’ thy part!”
Now Kitty, pert, repeats the rhymes,
And Roger turns him round three times;
Then pauses ere he starts —— but Dick
Was mischief bent upon a trick:
Down on his hands and knees he lay,
Directly in the Blind-man’s way —
Then cries out, “Hem!” Hodge heard, and ran
With hood-wink’d chance—sure of his man;
But down he came. —Alas, how frail
Our best of hopes, how soon they fail!
With crimson drops he stains the ground,
Confusion startles all around!
Poor piteous Dick supports his head,
And fain would cure the hurt he made;
But Kitty hasted with a key,
And down his back they strait convey
The cold relief—the blood is stay’d,
And Hodge again holds up his head.
Such are the fortunes of the game,
And those who play should stop the same
By wholesome laws; such as[:] all those
Who on the blinded man impose,
Stand in his stead; as long a-gone
When men were first a nation grown;
Lawless they liv’d — till wantonness
And liberty began t’ increase;
And one man lay in another’s way,
Then laws were made to keep fair play.
Song 1st by a Shepherd
Welcome stranger to this place,
Where joy doth sit on every bough,
Paleness flies from every face,
We reap not, what we do not sow.
Innocence doth like a Rose,
Bloom on every Maidens cheek;
Honor twines around her brows,
The jewel Health adorns her neck.
Song 3d by an Old Shepherd
When silver snow decks Sylvio’s clothes
And jewel hangs at shepherd’s nose,
That makes our limbs quake, if our hearts be warm.
Whilst Virtue is our walking staff,
And Truth a lantern to our path;
We can abide life’s pelting storm
That makes our limbs quake, if our hearts be warm.
Blow boisterous Wind, stern Winter frown,
Innocence is a Winter’s gown;
So clad, we’ll abide life’s pelting storm
That makes our limbs quake, if our hearts be warm.
“Never pain to tell thy Love”
Never pain to tell thy Love
Love that never told can be
For the gentle wind does move
Silently invisibly
I told my love I told my love
I told her all my heart
Trembling cold in ghastly fears
Ah she doth depart
Soon as she was gone from me
A traveller came by
Silently invisibly
O was no deny
“I feard the fury of my wind”
I feard the fury of my wind
Would blight all blossoms fair & true
And my sun it shind & shind
And my wind it never blew
But a blossom fair or true
Was not found on any tree
For all blossoms grew & grew
Fruitless false tho fair to see
“I saw a chapel all of gold”
I saw a chapel all of gold
That none did dare to enter in
And many weeping stood without
Weeping mourning worshipping
I saw a serpent rise between
The white pillars of the door
And he fored & fored & fored.
Down the golden hinges tore
And along the pavement sweet
Set with pearls & rubies bright
All his slimy length he drew
Till upon the altar white
Vomiting his poison out
On the bread & on the wine
So I turnd into a sty
And laid me down among the swine
“I laid me down upon a bank”
I laid me down upon a bank
Where love lay sleeping
I heard among the rushes dank
Weeping Weeping
Then I went to the heath & the wild
To the thistles & thorns of the waste
And they told me how they were beguild
Driven out & compeld to be chaste
A Cradle Song
Sleep Sleep beauty bright
Dreaming oer the joys of night
Sleep Sleep: in thy sleep
Little sorrows sit & weep
Sweet Babe in thy face
Soft desires I can trace
Secret joys & secret smiles
Little pretty infant wiles
As thy softest limbs I feel
Smiles as of the morning steal
Oer thy cheek & oer thy breast
Where thy little heart
does rest
O the cunning wiles that creep
In thy little heart asleep
When thy little heart does wake
Then the dreadful lightnings break
From thy cheek & from thy eye
Oer the youthful harvests nigh
Infant wiles & infant smiles
Heaven & Earth of peace beguiles
“I askéd a thief to steal me a peach”
I asked a thief to steal me a peach
He turned up his eyes
I ask’d a lithe lady to lie her down
Holy & meek she cries—
As soon as I went
An angel came.
He wink’d at the thief
And smild at the dame —
And without one word said
Had a peach from the tree
And still as a maid
Enjoy’d the lady.
To My Mirtle
To a lovely mirtle bound
Blossoms showring all around
O how sick & weary I
Underneath my mirtle lie
Why should I be bound to thee
O my lovely mirtle tree
“O lapwing thou fliest around the heath”
O lapwing thou fliest around the heath
Nor seest the net that is spread beneath
Why dost thou not fly among the corn fields
They cannot spread nets where a harvest yields
An Answer to the Parson
Why of the sheep do you not learn peace
Because I dont want you to shear my fleece
[Experiment]2
Thou hast a lap full of seed
And this is a fine country
Why dost thou not cast thy seed
And live in it merrily
Shall I cast it on the sand
And turn it into fruitful land
For on no other ground
Can I sow my seed
Without tearing up
Some stinking weed
Riches
The countless gold of a merry heart
The rubies & pearls of a loving eye
The indolent never can bring to the mart
Nor the secret hoard up in his treasury
“If you trap the moment before its ripe”
If you trap the moment before its ripe
The tears of repentance youll certainly wipe
But if once you let the ripe moment go
You can never wipe off the tears of woe
“I heard an Angel singing”
I heard an Angel singing
When the day was springing
Mercy Pity Peace
Is the worlds release
Thus he sung all day
Over the new mown hay
Till the sun went down
And haycocks looked brown
I heard a Devil curse
Over the heath & the furze
Mercy could be no more
If there was nobody poor
And pity no more could be
If all were as happy as we
At his curse the sun went down
And the heavens gave a frown
Down pourd the heavy rain
Over the new reapd grain
And Miseries increase
Is Mercy Pity Peace
“Silent Silent Night”
Silent Silent Night
Quench the holy light
Of thy torches bright
For possessd of Day
Thousand spirits stray
That sweet joys betray
Why should joys be sweet
Used with deceit
Nor with sorrows meet
But an honest joy
Does itself destroy
For a harlot coy
To Nobodaddy
Why art thou silent & invisible
Father of Jealousy
Why dost thou hide thyself in clouds
From every searching Eye
Why darkness & obscurity
In all thy words & laws
That none dare eat the fruit but from
The wily serpents jaws
Or is it because Secresy
gains females loud applause
[How to know Love from Deceit]3
Love to faults is always blind
Always is to joy inclind
Lawless wingd & unconfind
And breaks all chains from every mind
Deceit to secresy confind
Lawful cautious & refind
To every thing but interest blind
And forges fetters for the mind
The Wild Flowers Song
As I wanderd the forest
The green leaves among
I heard a wild flower
Singing a Song
I slept in the earth
In the silent night
I murmurd my fears
And I felt delight
In the morning I went
As rosy as morn
To seek for new Joy
But I met with scorn
Soft Snow
I walked abroad in a snowy day
I askd the soft snow with me to play
She playd & she melted in all her prime
And the winter calld it a dreadful crime
Merlins Prophecy
The harvest shall flourish in wintry weather
When two virginities meet together
The King & the Priest must be tied in a tether
Before two virgins can meet together
“Why should I care for the men of thames”
Why should I care for the men of thames
Or the cheating waves of charterd streams
Or shrink at the little blasts of fear
That the hireling blows into my ear
Tho born on the cheating banks of Thames
Tho his waters bathed my infant limbs
The Ohio shall wash his stains from me
I was born a slave but I go to be free
Day
The Sun arises in the East
Clothd in robes of blood & gold
Swords & spears & wrath increast
All around his bosom rolld
Crownd with warlike fires & raging desires
“The sword sung on the barren heath”
The sword sung on the barren heath
The sickle in the fruitful field
The sword he sung a song of death
But could not make the sickle yield
“Abstinence sows sand all over”
Abstinence sows sand all over
The ruddy limbs & flaming hair
But Desire Gratified
Plants fruits of life & beauty there
“In a wife I would desire”
In a wife I would desire
What in whores is always found
The lineaments of Gratified desire
Lacedemonian Instruction
Come hither my boy tell me what thou seest there
A fool tangled in a religious snare
“An old maid early eer I knew”
An old maid early eer I knew
Ought but the love that on me grew
And now Im coverd oer & oer
And wish that I had been a Whore
O I cannot cannot find
The undaunted courage of a Virgin Mind
For Early I in love was crost
Before my flower of love was lost
Several Questions Answerd
He who binds to himself a joy
Doth the winged life destroy
But he who kisses the joy as it flies
Lives in Eternitys sun rise
The look of love alarms
Because tis filld with fire
But the look of soft deceit
Shall Win the lovers hire
Soft deceit & Idleness
These are Beautys sweetest dress
What is it men in women do require
The lineaments of Gratified
Desire
What is it women do in men require
The lineaments of Gratified Desire
An Ancient Proverb
Remove away that blackning church
Remove away that marriage hearse
Remove away that —of blood
Youll quite remove the ancient curse
The Fairy
Come hither my sparrows
My little arrows
If a tear or a smile
Will a man beguile
If an amorous delay
Clouds a sunshiny day
If the step of a foot
Smites the heart to its root
Tis the marriage ring
Makes each fairy a king
So a fairy sung
From the leaves I sprung
He leapd from the spray
To flee away
But in my hat caught
He soon shall be taught
Let him laugh let him cry
Hes my butterfly
For I’ve pulld out the Sting