oO THE COMPLETE ANGLER, PART I. 



And I wilt make thee beds of roses ; 

 And, then, a thousand fragrant posies ; 

 A cap of flowers ; and a kirtle, 

 Embroider'd all with leaves of myrtle; 



A gown made of the finest \vool, 

 Which from our pretty lambs we pull ; 

 Slippers, lin'd choicely for the cold ; 

 With buckles of the purest gold ; 



A belt, of straw and ivy-buds, 

 With coral clasps, and amber studs. 

 And if these pleasures may thee move, 

 Come live with me, and be my love. 



Thy silver dishes, for thy meat 

 As precious as the Gods do eat ? 

 Shall, on an ivory table, be 

 Prepar'd each day for thee and me. 



The shepherd swains shall dance and sing, 

 For thy delight, each May morning. 

 If these delights thy mind may move, 

 Then live with me, and be my love *. 



Ven. Trust me, master! it is a choice song, and 

 sweetly sung by honest Maudlin. I now see it was riot 

 without cause, that our good queen Elizabeth did so 

 often wish herself a milk-maid all the month of May ; 

 because they are not troubled with fears and cares, but 

 sing sweetly all the day, and sleep securely all the night, 

 and without doubt, honest, innocent, pretty Maud- 



* Dr. Warburton, in his Notes on The Merry Wives of Windsor , as- 

 .cribes this song to Shakespeare : it is true, Sir Hugh Evans, in the third 

 Act of that play, sings four lines of it ; and it occurs in a Collection of 

 Poems said to be Shakespeare's, printed by Thomas Cotes for John Benson, 

 12mo. 1640 with some variations. On the contrary, it is to be found, 

 with the name of " Christopher Marlow" to it, in England's Helicon: 

 and Walton has just said it was made by Kit. Marlo-w. The reader will 

 judge of these evidences, as he pleases. 



As to the song itself; though a beautiful one, it is not so purely pastoral, 

 as it is generally thought to be ; buckles qf gold, coral clasps and amber 

 studs, silver dishes and ivory tables, are luxuries; and consist not with the 

 parsimony and simplicity of rural life and manners. 



