11.
"Welcome at last unto the Threshold, Time
Throned in a saffron evening, seems to chime
All in, kiss and so enter. If
A prayer must be said, be brief,
The easy Gods
For such neglect have only myrtle rods
To stroke, not strike; fear you
Not more, mild Nymph, than they would have you do;
But dread that you do more offend
In that you do begin than end.
12 [7].
"And now y'are entered, see the coddled cook
Runs from his Torrid Zone to pry and look
And bless his dainty mistress; see
How th' aged point out: 'This is she
Who now must sway
Us (and God shield her) with her yea and nay,'
And the smirk Butler thinks it
Sin in his nap'ry not t' express his wit;
Each striving to devise
Some gin wherewith to catch her eyes.
13.
"What though your laden Altar now has won
The credit from the table of the Sun
For earth and sea; this cost
On you is altogether lost
Because you feed
Not on the flesh of beasts, but on the seed
Of contemplation: your,
Your eyes are they, wherewith you draw the pure
Elixir to the mind
Which sees the body fed, yet pined.
14 [14].
"If you must needs for ceremonie's sake
Bless a sack posset, Luck go with you, take
The night charm quickly; you have spells
And magic for to end, and Hells
To pass, but such
And of such torture as no God would grutch
To live therein for ever: fry,
Aye and consume, and grow again to die,
And live, and in that case
the]Love the damnation of that place.
15 [8].
"To Bed, to Bed, sweet Turtles now, and write
This the shortest day,† this the longest night
And yet too short for you; 'tis we
Who count this night as long as three,
Lying alone
Hearing the clock go Ten, Eleven, Twelve, One:
Quickly, quickly then prepare.
And let the young men and the Bridemaids share
Your garters, and their joints
Encircle with the Bridegroom's points.