Love
Love's god is a boy
From Lyrics from the Song-Books of the Elizabethan Age, ed. A. H. Bullen (London: Nimmo, 1891)
Love's god is a boy,
None but cowherds regard him,
His dart is a toy,
Great opinion hath marred him:
The fear of the wag
Hath made him so brag;
Chide him, he'll flie thee
And not come nigh thee.
Little boy, pretty knave, shoot not at random,
For if you hit me, slave, I'll tell your grandam.
Fond love is a child
And his compass is narrow,
Young fools are beguiled
With the fame of his arrow;
He dareth not strike
If his stroke do mislike:
Cupid, do you hear me?
Come not too near me.
Little boy, pretty knave, hence I beseech you,
For if you hit me, knave, in faith I'll breech you.
Th' ape loves to meddle
When he finds a man idle,
Else is he a-flirting
Where his mark is a-courting;
When women grow true
Come teach me to sue,
Then I'll come to thee
Pray thee and woo thee.
Little boy, pretty knave, make me not stagger,
For if you hit me, knave, I'll call thee, beggar.
Codex Note
From Robert Jones' Second Book of Songs and Airs, 1601.
Cite this poem
MLA
Anonymous (Elizabethan songs). “Love's god is a boy.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/anonymous-elizabethan-songs/81/.
Chicago
Anonymous (Elizabethan songs). “Love's god is a boy.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/anonymous-elizabethan-songs/81/.
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