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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 naught?

Think women still to strive with men,

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'll not stick to round me i' the ear,

To teach my tongue to be so long:

Yet will she blush, here be it said,

To hear her secrets so bewray'd.

V.

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.

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,

These pretty pleasures might me move

To live with thee and be thy love.

VI.

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;

Everything did banish moan,

Save the nightingale alone:

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;

Teru, teru, 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.

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

None take pity on thy pain:

Senseless trees, they cannot hear thee;

Ruthless bears, 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.

Whilst as fickle fortune smil'd,

Thou and I were both beguil'd.

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.

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:

They that fawn'd on him before,

Use his company no more.

He that is thy frend 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.

The Criticism

PREFACE TO SHAKESPEARE AND NOTES ON PLAYS by Samuel Johnson

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) was a renowned critic and author, as well as a poet, essayist, moralist, biographer, editor and lexicographer. His contribution to literature was immense, with his Dictionary of the English Language, published in 1755, standardising the nature of the English language. His later works included essays, an influential annotated edition of Shakespeare's plays and numerous critical books on the playwright’s oeuvre. Now, he is regarded as Shakespeare’s greatest critic and the leading expert in the literary criticism of his time.

Samuel Johnson, 1772

CONTENTS

PREFACE TO