OLD SONG.

NCE did my thoughts both ebb and flow
As passion bid them move;

Once did I hope, straight fear again,
But then I was in love.

Once did I waking spend the night,
And tell how minutes move;
Once did I wishing waste the day,
And then I was in love.

Once by my carving true love's knots,
The weeping trees did prove

That wounds and tears were both our lots,

And then I was in love.

Once did I breathe another's breath,

And in my mistress move; Once I was not mine own at all,

And then I was in love.

Once wore I bracelets made of hair,

And colours did approve;

Once were my clothes made out of wax,

And then I was in love.

Once did I sonnet to my saint,

My soul in numbers move;
Once did I tell a thousand lies,
And then I was in love.

Once in my ear did dangling hang
A little turtle-dove;

Once, in a word, I was a fool,

And then I was in love.

AUTHOR UNKNOWN.

A WOMAN'S CONSTANCY.

HY rise of fortune did I only wed,
From its decline determined to recede ?
Did I but purpose to embark with thee

On the smooth surface of a summer sea,
While gentle zephyrs play in prosperous gales,
And fortune's favour fills the swelling sails;
But would forsake the ship, and make the shore,
When the winds whistle and the tempests roar?
No, Henry, no-one sacred oath has tied
Our loves-one destiny our lives shall guide;
Nor wild, nor deep, our common way divide.

PRIOR. 1664-1721.

IL PENSEROSO.

And here the precious dust is laid,
Whose purely temper'd clay was made
So fine, that it the guest betray'd.

CAREW.