Aramantha,
a
PASTORALL.
BY
RICHARD LOVELACE,
Esq.
LONDON,
Printed by Tho. Harper, and are to be sold
by Tho. Evvster, at the Gun, in
Ivie Lane. 1649.
THE DEDICATION.
TO THE RIGHT HON. MY LADY ANNE LOVELACE.<3.1>
To the richest Treasury
That e'er fill'd ambitious eye;
To the faire bright Magazin
Hath impoverisht Love's Queen;
To th' Exchequer of all honour
(All take pensions but from her);
To the taper of the thore
Which the god himselfe but bore;
To the Sea of Chaste Delight;
Let me cast the Drop I write.
And as at Loretto's shrine
Caesar shovels in his mine,
Th' Empres spreads her carkanets,
The lords submit their coronets,
Knights their chased armes hang by,
Maids diamond-ruby fancies tye;
Whilst from the pilgrim she wears
One poore false pearl, but ten true tears:
So among the Orient prize,
(Saphyr-onyx eulogies)
Offer'd up unto your fame,
Take my GARNET-DUBLET name,
And vouchsafe 'midst those rich joyes
(With devotion) these TOYES.
Richard Lovelace.
<3.1> This lady was the wife of the unfortunate John, second Lord Lovelace, who suffered so severely for his attachment to the King's cause, and daughter to the equally unfortunate Thomas, Earl of Cleveland, who was equally devoted to his sovereign, and whose estates were ordered by the Parliament to be sold, July 26, 1650. See PARLIAMENTS AND COUNCILS OF ENGLAND, 1839, p. 507.
VERSES ADDRESSED TO THE AUTHOR.
TO MY BEST BROTHER ON HIS POEMS CALLED "LUCASTA."
Now y' have oblieg'd the age, thy wel known worth
Is to our joy auspiciously brought forth.
Good morrow to thy son, thy first borne flame
Which, as thou gav'st it birth, stamps it a name,
That Fate and a discerning age shall set
The chiefest jewell in her coronet.