Had I got a kingly grace,
I would leave my kingly place
And in heart be truly glad
To become a country lad;
Hard to lie, and go full bare,
And to feed on hungry fare,
So I might but live to be
Where I might but sit to see
Once a day, or all day long,
The sweet subject of my song:
In Aglaia's only eyes

All my worldly paradise.

N. Breton

383. Come Follow Me, Ye Country

Lasses

'OME follow me, you country lasses,

COME

And you shall see such sport as passes:

You shall dance and I will sing;

Pedro, he shall rub the string;
Each shall have a loose-bodied gown
Of green, and laugh till you lie down.
Come follow me, come follow, &c.

You shall have crowns of roses, daisies,
Buds where the honey-maker grazes;
You shall taste the golden thighs,
Such as in wax-chamber lies:
What fruit please you taste, freely pull,
Till you have all your bellies full.

Come follow me, come follow, &c.

7. Fletcher or W. Rowley

384.

Country Glee

HAYMAKERS, rakers, reapers, and mowers,

Wait on your Summer-Queen;

Dress up with musk-rose her eglantine bowers,
Daffodils strew the green;

Sing, dance, and play,

"Tis holiday;

The sun does bravely shine

On our ears of corn.

Rich as a pearl

Comes every girl,

This is mine, this is mine, this is mine;

Let us die, ere away they be borne.

Bow to the Sun, to our queen, and that fair one

Come to behold our sports:

Each bonny lass here is counted a rare one,
As those in prince's courts.

These and we

With country glee,

Will teach the woods to resound,

And the hills with echoes hollow:

Skipping lambs

Their bleating dams,

'Mongst kids shall trip it round; For joy thus our wenches we follow.

Wind, jolly huntsmen, your neat bugles shrilly,

Hounds make a lusty cry;

Spring up, you falconers, the partridges freely,
Then let your brave hawks fly.

Horses amain,

Over ridge, over plain,
The dogs have the stag in chase:
'Tis a sport to content a king.
So ho, ho! through the skies
How the proud bird flies,

And sousing kills with a grace!

Now the deer falls; hark, how they ring!

T. Dekker

385. What Pleasure Have Great Princes

WHAT

HAT pleasure have great princes
More dainty to their choice

Than herdsmen wild, who careless
In quiet life rejoice,

And fortune's fate not fearing
Sing sweet in summer morning?

Their dealings plain and rightful,
Are void of all deceit;

They never know how spiteful,
It is to kneel and wait

On favourite presumptuous,
Whose pride is vain and sumptuous.

All day their flocks each tendeth;
At night, they take their rest;
More quiet than who sendeth
His ship into the East,

Where gold and pearl are plenty;
But getting, very dainty.

386.

For lawyers and their pleading,
They 'steem it not a straw;
They think that honest meaning
Is of itself a law:

Whence conscience judgeth plainly,
They spend no money vainly.

O happy who thus liveth!
Not caring much for gold;
With clothing which sufficeth
To keep him from the cold.
Though poor and plain his diet
Yet merry it is, and quiet.

The Shepherd's Wife's Song

AH, what is love? It is a pretty thing,

As sweet unto a shepherd as a king;
And sweeter too;

Anon.

For kings have cares that wait upon a crown
And cares can make the sweetest love to frown.
Ah then, ah then,

If country loves such sweet desires do gain,
What lady would not love a shepherd swain?

His flocks are folded, he comes home at night,
As merry as a king in his delight;

And merrier too;

For kings bethink then what the state require,
Where shepherds careless carol by the fire:

If country

Ah then, ah then,

loves such sweet desires do gain, What lady would not love a shepherd swain?

He kisseth first, then sits as blithe to eat
His cream and curds as doth the king his meat;
And blither too:

For kings have often fears when they do sup,
Where shepherds dread no poison in their cup.
Ah then, ah then,

If country loves such sweet desires do gain,
What lady would not love a shepherd swain?

To bed he goes, as wanton then, I ween,
As is a king in dalliance with a queen;
More wanton too;

For kings have many griefs affects to move,
Where shepherds have no greater grief than love:
Ah then, ah then,

If country loves such sweet desires do gain,
What lady would not love a shepherd swain?

Upon his couch of straw he sleeps as sound
As doth a king upon his beds of down;
More sounder too;

For cares cause kings full oft their sleep to spill,
Where weary shepherds lie and snort their fill:
Ah then, ah then,

If country loves such sweet desires do gain,
What lady would not love a shepherd swain?