WIT PUNISHED,
PROSPERS
MOST.
Robert Herrick
PARDONS.
Those ends in war the best contentment bring,
_Whose peace is made up with a pardoning_.
1030. PEACE NOT PERMANENT.
_Great cities seldom rest; if there be none
T' invade from far, they'll find worse foes at home. _
1031. TRUTH AND ERROR.
_'Twixt truth and error there's this difference known;
Error is fruitful, truth is only one. _
1032. THINGS MORTAL STILL MUTABLE.
_Things are uncertain, and the more we get,
The more on icy pavements we are set. _
1033. STUDIES TO BE SUPPORTED.
_Studies themselves will languish and decay,
When either price or praise is ta'en away. _
1034.
WIT PUNISHED, PROSPERS MOST.
Dread not the shackles: on with thine intent;
_Good wits get more fame by their punishment_.
1035. TWELFTH NIGHT: OR, KING AND QUEEN.
Now, now the mirth comes
With the cake full of plums,
Where bean's the king of the sport here;
Beside we must know,
The pea also
Must revel, as queen, in the court here.
Begin then to choose,
This night as ye use,
Who shall for the present delight here,
Be a king by the lot,
And who shall not
Be Twelfth-day queen for the night here.
Which known, let us make
Joy-sops with the cake;
And let not a man then be seen here,
Who unurg'd will not drink
To the base from the brink
A health to the king and the queen here.
Next crown the bowl full
With gentle lamb's wool:
Add sugar, nutmeg, and ginger,
With store of ale too;
And thus ye must do
To make the wassail a swinger.
Give then to the king
And queen wassailing:
And though with ale ye be whet here,
Yet part ye from hence,
As free from offence
As when ye innocent met here.
1036. HIS DESIRE.
Give me a man that is not dull
When all the world with rifts is full;
But unamaz'd dares clearly sing,
Whenas the roof's a-tottering:
And, though it falls, continues still
Tickling the cittern with his quill.
_Cittern_, a kind of lute; _quill_, the plectrum for striking it.
1037. CAUTION IN COUNSEL.
Know when to speak; for many times it brings
Danger to give the best advice to kings.
Those ends in war the best contentment bring,
_Whose peace is made up with a pardoning_.
1030. PEACE NOT PERMANENT.
_Great cities seldom rest; if there be none
T' invade from far, they'll find worse foes at home. _
1031. TRUTH AND ERROR.
_'Twixt truth and error there's this difference known;
Error is fruitful, truth is only one. _
1032. THINGS MORTAL STILL MUTABLE.
_Things are uncertain, and the more we get,
The more on icy pavements we are set. _
1033. STUDIES TO BE SUPPORTED.
_Studies themselves will languish and decay,
When either price or praise is ta'en away. _
1034.
WIT PUNISHED, PROSPERS MOST.
Dread not the shackles: on with thine intent;
_Good wits get more fame by their punishment_.
1035. TWELFTH NIGHT: OR, KING AND QUEEN.
Now, now the mirth comes
With the cake full of plums,
Where bean's the king of the sport here;
Beside we must know,
The pea also
Must revel, as queen, in the court here.
Begin then to choose,
This night as ye use,
Who shall for the present delight here,
Be a king by the lot,
And who shall not
Be Twelfth-day queen for the night here.
Which known, let us make
Joy-sops with the cake;
And let not a man then be seen here,
Who unurg'd will not drink
To the base from the brink
A health to the king and the queen here.
Next crown the bowl full
With gentle lamb's wool:
Add sugar, nutmeg, and ginger,
With store of ale too;
And thus ye must do
To make the wassail a swinger.
Give then to the king
And queen wassailing:
And though with ale ye be whet here,
Yet part ye from hence,
As free from offence
As when ye innocent met here.
1036. HIS DESIRE.
Give me a man that is not dull
When all the world with rifts is full;
But unamaz'd dares clearly sing,
Whenas the roof's a-tottering:
And, though it falls, continues still
Tickling the cittern with his quill.
_Cittern_, a kind of lute; _quill_, the plectrum for striking it.
1037. CAUTION IN COUNSEL.
Know when to speak; for many times it brings
Danger to give the best advice to kings.
