Richard Lovelace(1618–1658)
The Grasshopper
To My Noble Friend, Mr. CharlesCotton7
O thou that swing'st upon the waving hair
Of some well-filled oaten beard,8
Drunk every night with a delicious tear 0dew, water
Dropped thee from heaven, where now th' art reared;you
The joys of earth and air are thine entire,
That with thy feet and wings dost hop and fly;
And, when thy poppy 0 works, thou dost retiresleeping potion
To thy carved acorn-bed to lie.
Up with the day, the sun thou welcom'st then,
Sport'st in the gilt-plats of his beams,golden braids
And all these merry days mak'st merry men,
Thyself, and melancholy streams.9
But ah, the sickle! Golden ears are cropped;
Ceres and Bacchus 1 bid good night;
Sharp, frosty fingers all your flowers have topped,
And what scythes spared, winds shave off quite.
Poor verdant 0 fool, and now green ice! thy joys,green
Large and as lasting as thy perch of grass,
Bid us lay in 2 'gainst winter rain, and poise 0balance
Their floods with an o'erflowing glass.
Thou best of men and friends! we will create
A genuine summer in each other's breast,
A n d spite of this cold t i m e and frozen fate,
T h a w us a w a r m seat to our rest.
O u r sacred hearths shall burn eternally,
A s vestal flames;3 the N o r t h W i n d , h e
Shall strike his frost-stretched wings, dissolve, and fly
T h i s E t n a in e p i t o m e . 4
D r o p p i n g D e c e m b e r shall c o m e w e e p i n g in,
Bewail th' u s u r p i n g of his reign:
B u t w h e n i n s h o w e r s o f old Greek w e begin,
Shall cry he hath his c r o w n again!5
Night, as clear H e s p e r , 6 shall our tapers w h i p
From the light c a s e m e n t s w h e r e we play,
A n d t h e dark h a g f r o m her black m a n t l e strip,7
A n d stick there everlasting day.
T h u s richer than u n t e m p t e d kings8 are w e ,
That, asking n o t h i n g , n o t h i n g need:
T h o u g h lord of all w h a t seas e m b r a c e , yet he
T h a t w a n t s h i m s e l f is p o o r i n d e e d . 9