The Shepherd's Slumber

In peascod time, when hound to horn
Gives ear till buck be kill'd.
And little lads with pipes of com
Sat keeping beasts a-field,
I went to gather strawberries tho,
By woods and groves full fair;
And parch'd my face with Phoebus so.
In walking in the air,
That down I laid me by a stream.

With boughs all over-clad;
And there I met the strangest dream
That ever shepherd had.
Methought I saw each Christmas game.
Each revel all and some.
And everything that I can name,
Or may in fancy come.
The substance of the sights I saw
In silence pass they shall.
Because I lack the skill to draw
The order of them all;
But Venus shall not pass my pen,
Whose maidens in disdain
Did feed upon the hearts of men
That Cupid's bow had slain.
And that blind boy was all in blood,
Be-bath'd up to the ears,
And like a conqueror he stood.

And scorn'd lover's tears.
" I have," quoth he, " more hearts at call
Than Caesar could command,
And like the deer I make them fall,
That runneth o'er the lawnd.
One drops down here, another there;
In bushes as they groan,
I bend a scornful careless ear,
To hear them make their moan. "
"Ah, sir," quoth Honest Meaning then,
" Thy boy-like brags I hear;
When thou hast wounded many a man,
As huntsman doth the deer.
Becomes it thee to triumph so?

Thy mother wills it not;
For she had rather break thy bow,
Than thou should'st play the sot.''
" What saucy merchant speaketh now? "
Said Venus in her rage;
" Art thou so blind thou know'st not how
I govern every age?
My son doth shoot no shaft in waste,
To me the boy is bound;
He never found a heart so chaste,
But he had power to wound. "
" Not so, fair goddess," quoth Free-will,
" In me there is a choice;
And cause I am of mine own ill
If I in thee rejoice.
And when I yield myself a slave
To thee, or to thy son,
Such recompense I ought not have.

If things be rightly done."
"Why, fool," stepp'd forth Delight and said,
" When thou art conquer'd thus.
Then, lo! dame Lust, that wanton maid,
Thy mistress is, I wus.
And Lust is Cupid's darling dear,
Behold her where she goes;
She creeps the milk-warm flesh so near.

She hides her under close,
Where many privy thoughts do dwell,
A heaven here on earth;
For they have never mind of hell.
They think so much on mirth."
" Be still. Good Meaning," quoth Good Sport,
" Let Cupid triumph make;
For sure his kingdom shall be short.

If we no pleasure take.
Fair Beauty, and her play-pheers gay.
The virgins vestal too.
Shall sit and with their fingers play.
As idle people do.
If Honest Meaning fall to frown,
And I Good Sport decay,
Then Venus' glory will come down
And they will pine away."
"Indeed," quoth Wit, " this your device
With strangeness must be wrought;
And where you see these women nice,
And looking to be sought,
With scowling brows their follies check,
And so give them the fig;
Let Fancy be no more at beck.

When Beauty looks so big."
When Venus heard how they conspired
To murther women so,
Methought indeed the house was fired,
With storms and lightning the.
The thunderbolt through windows burst.
And in their steps a wight.
Which seem'd some soul or sprite accurst,
So ugly was the sight.
"I charge you, ladies all," quoth he,
" Look to yourselves in haste;
For if that men so wilful be.

And have their thoughts so chaste.
That they can tread on Cupid's breast,
And march on Venus' face.
Then they shall sleep in quiet rest.
When you shall wail your case! "
With that had Venus all in spite
Stirr'd up the dames to ire;
And Lust fell cold, and Beauty white
Sat babbling with Desire,
Whose mutt'ring words I might not mark,
Much whispering there arose;
The day did lower, the sun wax'd dark,
Away each lady goes.
But whither went this angry flock?

Our Lord himself doth know.
Wherewith full loudly crew the cock,
And I awaked so.
A dream, quoth I, a dog it is,
I take thereon no keep;
I gage my head such toys as this
Doth spring from lack of sleep.