| William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Elizabethan Verse. 1907. | | | | A Welcome | | By William Browne (c. 1590–c. 1645) |
| | | WELCOME! welcome! do I sing, | |
| Far more welcome than the spring; | |
| He that parteth from you never | |
| Shall enjoy a spring for ever. | |
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| He that to the voice is near, | 5 |
| Breaking from your ivory pale, | |
| Need not walk abroad to hear | |
The delightful nightingale.
Welcome, welcome,… | |
| |
| He that looks still on your eyes, | |
| Though the winter have begun | 10 |
| To benumb our arteries, | |
Shall not want the summer’s sun.
Welcome, welcome,… | |
| |
| He that still may see your cheeks, | |
| Where all rareness still reposes, | |
| Is a fool, if e’er he seeks | 15 |
Other lilies, other roses.
Welcome, welcome,… | |
| |
| He to whom your soft lip yields, | |
| And perceives your breath in kissing, | |
| All the odours of the fields | |
Never, never shall be missing.
Welcome, welcome,… | 20 |
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| He that question would anew | |
| What fair Eden was of old, | |
| Let him rightly study you, | |
And a brief of that behold.
Welcome, welcome,… | | | | |
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