. . . .
. . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . 35
. . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . .

_Hymen O Hymenaeus, O Hymen come Hymenaeus._

YOUTHS.

. . . . . . . . . . . 40
. . . . . . . . . .
Hesper, awaiting thee each sentinel holdeth alarum.
Night veils love's false thieves; thieves still when, Hesper, another
Name, but unalter'd still, thou tak'st them surely, returning. (35)
Yet be the maidens pleas'd in woeful fancy to chide thee. 45
Maybe for all they chide, their hearts do inly desire thee.

Hymen O Hymenaeus, O Hymen come Hymenaeus.

VIRGINS.

Look in a garden-croft when a flower privily growing,
Hid from grazing kine, by ploughshare never y-broken, (40)
Strok'd by the breeze, by the sun nurs'd sturdily, rear'd by
the showers; 50
Many a wistful boy, and maidens many desire it:

Yet if a slender nail hath nipt his bloom to deflour it,
Never a wistful boy, nor maidens any desire it:

Such is a girl untoy'd with as yet, yet lovely to kinsmen; (45)
Once her body profan'd, herflow'r of chastity blighted, 55
Boys no more she delights, nor seems so lovely to maidens;

Hymen O Hymenaeus, O Hymen come Hymenaeus.

YOUTHS.

Look as a lone lorn vine in a bare field sorrily growing,
Never an arm uplifts, no grape to maturity ripens, (50)

Only with headlong weight her tender body declining, 60
Bows, till topmost spray and roots meet feebly together;
Her no peasant swain, nor bullock tendeth her ever;

Yet to the bachelor elm if marriage-fortune unite her,
Many a peasant tills and bullocks many about her; (55)

Such is a maid untoy'd with as yet, in loneliness aging; 65
Wins she a bridegroom meet, in time's warm fulness arriving,
So to the man more dear, and less unlovely to parents.

O then, clasp thy love, nor fight, fair maiden, against him.
Sin 'twere surely to fight; thy father gave to his arms thee, (60)
Father's self