William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Elizabethan Verse. 1907. Rosalind’s Madrigal By Thomas Lodge (1558–1625)
LOVE 1 in my bosom, like a bee, Doth suck his sweet: Now with his wings he plays with me, Now with his feet. Within mine eyes he makes his nest, 5 His bed amidst my tender breast; My kisses are his daily feast, And yet he robs me of my rest: Ah! wanton, will ye? And if I sleep, then percheth he 10 With pretty flight, And makes his pillow of my knee The livelong night. Strike I my lute, he tunes the string; He music plays if so I sing; 15 He lends me every lovely thing, Yet cruel he my heart doth sting: Whist, wanton, still ye! Else I with roses every day Will whip you hence, 20 And bind you, when you long to play, For your offence. I’ll shut mine eyes to keep you in; I’ll make you fast it for your sin; I’ll count your power not worth a pin. 25 —Alas! what hereby shall I win If he gainsay me? What if I beat the wanton boy With many a rod? He will repay me with annoy, 30 Because a god. Then sit thou safely on my knee; And let thy bower my bosom be; Lurk in mine eyes, I like of thee; 2 O Cupid, so thou pity me, 35 Spare not, but play thee!
Note 1. Rosalind, 1590. “A charming picture in the purest style of the later Italian Renaissance.” (Palgrave, in The Golden Treasury ,back ]Note 2. I like of thee: I am pleased with thee. Compare: “You have been bolder in my house than I could well like of.”—Middleton, A Chaste Maid in Cheapside, Bullen’s Ed., vol. v. [back ]
