Ben Jonson (1572-1637). The Shepherd's Holyday. William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. 1907. The Book of Elizabethan Verse

Verse > Anthologies > William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. > The Book of Elizabethan Verse

CONTENTS · GLOSSARY · BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Elizabethan Verse. 1907.

The Shepherd’s Holyday

By Ben Jonson (1572–1637)


1 Nymph.	THUS, 1 thus begin the yearly rites
	Are due to Pan on these bright nights;
	His morn now riseth and invites
	To sports, to dances, and delights:
	All envious and profane, away,	5
	This is the shepherd’s holyday.

2 Nymph.	Strew, strew the glad and smiling ground
	With every flower, yet not confound;
	The primrose drop, the spring’s own spouse,
	Bright day’s-eyes and the lips of cows;	10
	The garden-star, the queen of May,
	The rose, to crown the holyday.

3 Nymph.	Drop, drop, you violets; change your hues,
	Now red, now pale, as lovers use;
	And in your death go out as well	15
	As when you lived unto the smell:
	That from your odour all may say,
	This is the shepherd’s holyday.

Note 1. Thus, thus begin the yearly rites. This is the opening hymn in the Masque, Pan’s Anniversary: or, The Shepherd’s Holyday. The date and place of performance are uncertain. Mr. Fleay suggests it was written for King James’ birthday, June 19. In the Folio of 1640 the month is not dated, but the year assigned is 1625; on March 27 of which year James died. In 1623 he kept his birthday at Greenwich or at Wansted; in 1624, at Wansted. [back]

CONTENTS · GLOSSARY · BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

Click here to shop the Bartleby Bookstore.

Shakespeare · Bible · Saints · Anatomy · Harvard Classics · Lit. History · Quotations · Poetry