Sing me to death; for till thy voice be clear,
'Twill never please the palate of mine ear.
391. HOW PANSIES OR HEART'S-EASE CAME FIRST.
Frolic virgins once these were,
Over-loving, living here;
Being here their ends denied,
Ran for sweethearts mad, and died.
Love, in pity of their tears,
And their loss in blooming years,
For their restless here-spent hours,
Gave them heart's-ease turn'd to flowers.
392. TO HIS PECULIAR FRIEND, SIR EDWARD FISH,
KNIGHT BARONET.
Since, for thy full deserts, with all the rest
Of these chaste spirits that are here possest
Of life eternal, time has made thee one
For growth in this my rich plantation,
Live here; but know 'twas virtue, and not chance,
That gave thee this so high inheritance.
Keep it for ever, grounded with the good,
Who hold fast here an endless livelihood.
393. LAR'S PORTION AND THE POET'S PART.
At my homely country-seat
I have there a little wheat,
Which I work to meal, and make
Therewithal a holy cake:
Part of which I give to Lar,
Part is my peculiar.
Peculiar, his own property.
394. UPON MAN.
Man is compos'd here of a twofold part:
The first of nature, and the next of art:
Art presupposes nature; nature she
Prepares the way for man's docility.