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A MERRY HEART FOR THE ROAD.

JOG on, jog on, the footpath way,

A

And merrily hent* the stile-a:

merry heart goes all the day,

Your sad tires in a mile-a.

THE PEDLAR AT THE DOOR.

LAWN, as white as driven snow;

Cypress, black as e'er was crow;
Gloves, as sweet as damask roses;
Masks for faces, and for noses;
Bugle-bracelet, necklace-amber,
Perfume for a lady's chamber:
Golden quoifs and stomachers,
For my lads to give their dears;
Pins and poking-sticks of steel,+
What maids lack from head to heel:

Come, buy of me, come; come buy, come buy;

Buy, lads, or else your lasses cry:

Come, buy, &c.

A.

THE BALLAD OF TWO MAIDS WOOING A MAN.

ET

GE

you hence, for I must go;

Where it fits not you to know.

D. Whither? M. O, whither? D. Whither?

M. It becomes thy oath full well,

Thou to me thy secrets tell:

D. Me too, let me go thither.

M. Or thou goest to the grange, or mill:
D. If to either, thou dost ill.

* To seize, to hold.

† A small stick used for setting the plaits of ruffs. They were originally made of wood or bone, afterwards of steel that they might be used hot. The steel poking-stick was introduced in the reign of Elizabeth.

A. Neither. D. What, neither? A. Neither.

D. Thou hast sworn my love to be:

M. Thou hast sworn it more to me:

Then, whither goest? Say, whither?

THE PEDLAR'S PACK.

WILL you buy any tape,

Or lace for your cape,

My dainty duck, my dear-a?
Any silk, any thread,
Any toys for your head,

Of the new'st, and fin'st, fin'st wear-a?
Come to the pedlar;

Money's a medler,

That doth utter all men's ware-a.

THE TEMPEST.

MUSIC IN THE AIR.

COME unto these yellow sands,

And then take hands:
Courtesied when you have, and kissed,
The wild waves whist,

Foot it featly here and there;

And, sweet sprites, the burden bear.
Hark, hark!

Bowgh, wowgh.

The watch-dogs bark:

Bowgh, wowgh.

Hark, hark! I hear

The strain of strutting chanticleer

Cry, Cock-a-doodle-doo.

THE DROWNED FATHER.

FULL fathom five thy father lies:

Of his bones are coral made;

Those are pearls that were his eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade,

But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange,
Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell:

Hark! now I hear them,-ding-dong, bell.*

THE WARNING.

WHILE you here do snoring lie,

Open-eyed Conspiracy

His time doth take;

If of life you keep a care,
Shake off slumber, and beware :
Awake! awake!

A SAILOR'S AVERSION.

THE master, the swabber, the boatswain, and I,

The gunner and his mate,

Loved Mall, Meg, and Marian, and Margery,
But none of us cared for Kate;

For she had a tongue with a tang,
Would cry to a sailor, 'Go hang;'

She loved not the savour of tar nor of pitch,
Yet a tailor might scratch her where'er she did itch;
Then to sea, boys, and let her go hang.

THE BLESSING OF JUNO AND CERES.

Ho ONOUR, riches, marriage-blessing,

Long continuance, and encreasing,

Hourly joys be still upon you!
Juno sings her blessings on you.

Earth's increase, and foisont plenty,
Barns and garners never empty;
Vines with clustering bunches growing;
Plants with goodly burthen bowing;

* Set to music by Robert Johnson, 1612.

† Abundance.

Spring come to you, at the farthest,
In the very end of harvest!

Scarcity and want shall shun you;
Ceres' blessing so is on you.

ARIEL SET FREE.

WHERE the bee sucks, there suck I;

WH

In a cowslip's bell I lie;

There I couch when owls do cry;

On the bat's back I do fly

After summer merrily:

Merrily, merrily, shall I live now,

Under the blossom that hangs on the bough.*

KING HENRY IV. PART II.

BE MERRY, BE MERRY.

Do nothing but eat, and make good cheer,
And praise Heaven for the merry year;
When flesh is cheap and females dear,
And lusty lads roam here and there,

Be

So merrily,

And ever among so merrily.

merry, be merry, my wife has all,

For women are shrews, both short and tall; 'Tis merry in hall when beards wag all, And welcome merry shrove-tide.

Be merry, be merry, &c.

A
cup of wine that's brisk and fine,
And drink unto the leman mine;

And a merry heart lives long-a.
Fill the cup, and let it come,
I'll pledge you a mile to the bottom.

* Robert Johnson also composed the music of this song.

KING HENRY V.

FRAGMENTS OF BALLADS.

I

KNOCKS go and come

To all and some

God's vassals feel the same,
And sword and shield
In bloody field

Do win immortal fame.

2

If wishes would prevail with me,
My purpose should not fail with me,
But thither would I now;

And as duly,

But not as truly,

As bird doth sing on bough.*

KING HENRY VIII.

INFLUENCE OF MUSIC.

ORPHEUS with his lute made trees,

And the mountain-tops that freeze,
Bow themselves, when he did sing:
To his music, plants and flowers,
Ever sprung; as sun, and showers

There had made a lasting spring.

*These fragments of ballads, sung by Pistol and the Boy (Act iii. Sc. 2), are taken in the form in which they are here given from the curious volume of MS. Notes and Emendations on the Folio of 1632, published by Mr. Collier. In all existing editions of Shakespeare the first line of the first stanza forms part of the dialogue, and it is here, with the two lines that immediately follow, thrown into verse by the emendator. In the third line of the second stanza the word hie, as printed in all the copies, is changed, with obvious propriety, into now. A comparison between the verses as they are given above, and as they are printed in the play, will enable the reader to trace the variances.

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