My Laddie Oh, my dearie, my dearie, I could luik an' never weary At your een sae blue an' laughin', While your mouth sae proud an' curly But oh! yoursel, your very sel, I lo'e ten thousand times as well! Oh! my darlin', my darlin', Amélie Rives [1863 655 MY LADY'S LIPS LIPS AND EYES From "Blurt, Master Constable" LOVE for such a cherry lip Would be glad to pawn his arrows; Venus here to take a sip Would sell her doves and team of sparrows. But they shall not so; Hey nonny, nonny no! None but I this lip must owe; Did Jove see this wanton eye, Would change her face and look much younger. Hey nonny, nonny no! None but I this lip must owe; Hey nonny, nonny no! Thomas Middleton [1570?-1627] THE KISS From "Cynthia's Revels" O THAT joy so soon should waste! Or so sweet a bliss As a kiss Might not for ever last! So sugared, so melting, so soft, so delicious, The dew that lies on roses, When the morn herself discloses, Is not so precious. A Stolen Kiss O, rather than I would it smother, It should be my wishing That I might die with kissing. 657 Ben Jonson [1573P-1637] "TAKE, O TAKE THOSE LIPS AWAY" TAKE, O take those lips away, That so sweetly were forsworn, Hide, O hide those hills of snow, Bound in those icy chains by thee.. The second stanza from “The Bloody Brothers," by A STOLEN KISS Now gentle sleep hath closed up those eyes SONG My Love bound me with a kiss That I should no longer stay; 'When I felt so sweet a bliss I had less power to part away: Alas! that women do not know Kisses make men loath to go. Yes, she knows it but too well, That kisses were the seals of love: Wherefore did she thus inflame And starve whom she had given food? Had she bid me go at first I would ne'er have grieved my heart Hope delayed had been the worst; But ah to kiss and then to part! How deep it struck, speak, gods! you know TO ELECTRA I DARE not ask a kiss, I dare not beg a smile, Lest having that, or this, I might grow proud the while. No, no, the utmost share Of my desire shall be Only to kiss that air That lately kissèd thee. Unknown Robert Herrick [1591-1674] A Riddle 659 COME, CHLOE, AND GIVE ME SWEET COME, Chloe, and give me sweet kisses, Do you ask me how many I'd have? Then, prithee, my charmer, be kind, Count the bees that on Hybla are playing, To a heart full of love, let me hold thee, And twist round thy limbs like a vine. My life on thy lips shall be spent! But the wretch that can number his kisses, Charles Hanbury Williams [1708-1759] A RIDDLE I AM just two and two, I am warm, I am cold, I am lawful, unlawful—a duty, a fault— I am often sold dear, good for nothing when bought; And yielded with pleasure when taken by force. William Cowper [1731-1800] |