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Press never thou to choose anew:

When time shall serve, be thou not slack

To proffer, though she put thee back.

The wiles and guiles that women work,

Dissembled with an outward show,

The tricks and toys that in them lurk,

The cock that treads them shall not know.

Have you not heard it said full oft,

A woman's nay doth stand for nought?

Think women still to strive with men, 340

To sin and never for to saint:

There is no heaven, by holy then,

When time with age doth them attaint.

Were kisses all the joys in bed,

One woman would another wed.

But, soft! enough, too much, I fear

Lest that my mistress hear my song,

She will not stick to round me i' the ear,

To teach my tongue to be so long:

Yet will she blush, here be it said, 350

To hear her secrets so bewray'd.

XX.

Live with me, and be my love,

And we will all the pleasures prove

That hills and valleys, dales and fields,

And all the craggy mountains yields.

There will we sit upon the rocks,

And see the shepherds feed their flocks,

By shallow rivers, by whose falls

Melodious birds sing madrigals. 360

There will I make thee a bed of roses,

With a thousand fragrant posies,

A cap of flowers, and a kirtle

Embroider'd all with leaves of myrtle.

A belt of straw and ivy buds,

With coral clasps and amber studs;

And if these pleasures may thee move,

Then live with me and be my love.

LOVE'S ANSWER.

If that the world and love were young,

And truth in every shepherd's tongue, 370

These pretty pleasures might me move

To live with thee and be thy love.

XXI.

As it fell upon a day

In the merry month of May,

Sitting in a pleasant shade

Which a grove of myrtles made,

Beasts did leap, and birds did sing,

Trees did grow, and plants did spring;

Every thing did banish moan,

Save the nightingale alone: 380

She, poor bird, as all forlorn,

Lean'd her breast up-till a thorn

And there sung the dolefull'st ditty,

That to hear it was great pity:

'Fie, fie, fie,' now would she cry;

'Tereu, tereu!' by and by;

That to hear her so complain,

Scarce I could from tears refrain;

For her griefs, so lively shown,

Made me think upon mine own. 390

Ah, thought I, thou mourn'st in vain!

None takes pity on thy pain:

Senseless trees they cannot hear thee;

Ruthless beasts they will not cheer thee:

King Pandion he is dead;

All thy friends are lapp'd in lead;

All thy fellow birds do sing,

Careless of thy sorrowing.

Even so, poor bird, like thee,

None alive will pity me. 400

Whilst as fickle Fortune smiled,

Thou and I were both beguiled.

Every one that flatters thee

Is no friend in misery.

Words are easy, like the wind;

Faithful friends are hard to find:

Every man will be thy friend

Whilst thou hast wherewith to spend;

But if store of crowns be scant,

No man will supply thy want. 410

If that one be prodigal,

Bountiful they will him call,

And with such-like flattering,

'Pity but he were a king;'

If he be addict to vice,

Quickly him they will entice;

If to women he be bent,

They have at commandement:

But if Fortune once do frown,

Then farewell his great renown 420

They that fawn'd on him before

Use his company no more.

He that is thy friend indeed,

He will help thee in thy need:

If thou sorrow, he will weep;

If thou wake, he cannot sleep;

Thus of every grief in heart

He with thee doth bear a part.

These are certain signs to know

Faithful friend from flattering foe. 430

THE PHOENIX AND THE TURTLE

This allegorical poem concerns the death of ideal love. Regarded by many as an obscure work, it has led to conflicting interpretations. It was first published in 1601 as a supplement to Love's Martyr, a long poem by Robert Chester. The "turtle" in the title refers to a turtle dove, not a reptile. Offering the allegory of an ideal marriage, the poem can be seen as an elucidation of the relationship between truth and beauty, or of fulfilled love, in the context of Renaissance Neoplatonism. Shakespeare introduces a number of other birds, drawing on earlier literature about the "parliament of birds",