Dear, fold me once more in thine arms!
And let me know
Before I go
There is no bliss but in those charms.
By thy fair self I swear 5
That here, and only here,
I would for ever, ever stay:
But cruel Fate calls me away.

How swiftly the light minutes slide!
The hours that haste 10
Away thus fast
By envious flight my stay do chide.
Yet, Dear, since I must go,
By this last kiss I vow,
By all that sweetness which dwells with thee,[3:1] 15
Time shall move slow, till next I see thee.

THE LAZY HOURS.

The lazy hours move slow,
The minutes stay;
Old Time with leaden feet doth go,
And his light wings hath cast away.
The slow-pac'd spheres above 5
Have sure releas'd
Their guardians, and without help move,
Whilst that the very angels rest.

The number'd sands that slide
Through this small glass, 10
And into minutes Time divide,
Too slow each other do displace;
The tedious wheels of light
No faster chime,
Than that dull shade which waits on night: 15
For Expectation outruns Time.

How long, Lord, must I stay?
How long dwell here?
O free me from this loathed clay!
Let me no more these fetters wear! 20
With far more joy
Shall I resign my breath,
For, to my griev'd soul, not to die
Is every minute a new death.

IV. LYRICS PRINTED ONLY IN EDITIONS OF 1647 AND 1651.

LOVE'S INNOCENCE.[4:1]

See how this ivy strives to twine[4:2]
Her wanton arms about the vine,
And her coy lover thus restrains,
Entangled in her amorous chains;
See how these neighb'ring palms do bend 5
Their heads, and mutual murmurs send,
As whispering with a jealous fear[4:3]
Their loves into each other's ear.
Then blush not such a flame to own }
As, like thyself, no crime hath known; } 10
Led by these harmless guides, we may }[4:4]
Embrace and kiss as well as they. }
And like those blessed souls above,
Whose life is harmony and love,
Let us our mutual thoughts betray,