Yet in my absence, dearest, be
My constant wife, Penelope.

Let me no longer live, she sayd,
Then to my lord I true remain;
My honour shall not be betray'd
Until I see my love again;
For I will ever constant prove,
As is the loyal turtle-dove.

Thus did they part with heavy chear,

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And to the ships his way he took;

Her tender eyes dropt many a tear;
Still casting many a longing look :
She saw him on the surges glide,
And unto Neptune thus she cry'd:

Thou god, whose power is in the deep,

And rulest in the ocean main,

My loving lord in safety keep
Till he return to me again :
That I his person may behold,
To me more precious far than gold.

Then straight the ships with nimble sails
Were all convey'd out of her sight:

Her cruel fate she then bewails,

Since she had lost her hearts delight. Now shall my practice be, quoth she, True vertue and humility.

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My patience I will put in ure,

My charity I will extend;

Since for my woe there is no cure,

The helpless now I will befriend:
The widow and the fatherless
I will relieve, when in distress.

Thus she continued year by year

In doing good to every one;
Her fame was noised every where,

To young and old the same was known,
That she no company would mind,
Who were to vanity inclin❜d.

Mean while Ulysses fought for fame,

'Mongst Trojans hazarding his life:

Young gallants, hearing of her name,
Came flocking for to tempt his wife :
For she was lovely, young, and fair,
No lady might with her compare.

With costly gifts and jewels fine,

They did endeavour her to win;

With banquets and the choicest wine,

For to allure her unto sin:

Most persons were of high degree,

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Who courted fair Penelope.

With modesty and comely grace

Their wanton suits she did denye:

No tempting charms could e'er deface
Her dearest husband's memorye;
But constant she would still remain,
Hopeing to see him once again.

Her book her dayly comfort was,
And that she often did peruse;

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She seldom looked in her glass;

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Powder and paint she ne'er would use.

I wish all ladies were as free

From pride, as was Penelope.

She in her needle took delight,
And likewise in her spinning-wheel;

Her maids about her every night

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Did use the distaff and the reel :

The spiders, that on rafters twine,

Scarce spin a thread more soft and fine.

Sometimes she would bewail the loss

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And absence of her dearest love: Sometimes she thought the seas to cross,

Her fortune on the waves to prove.

I fear my lord is slain, quoth she,

He stays so from Penelope.

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At length the ten years siege of Troy

Did end; in flames the city burn'd;

And to the Grecians was great joy,

To see the towers to ashes turn'd:

Then came Ulysses home to see
His constant, dear, Penelope.

O blame her not if she was glad,
When she her lord again had seen.
Thrice-welcome home, my dear, she said,
A long time absent thou hast been:
The wars shall never more deprive
Me of my lord whilst I'm alive.

Fair ladies all, example take;

And hence a worthy lesson learn,

All youthful follies to forsake,

And vice from virtue to discern:

And let all women strive to be

As constant as Penelope.

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XI.

To Lucasta, on going to the Wars.

By Colonel Richard Lovelace: from the volume of his poems, entitled Lucasta, Lond. 1649, 12mo. The elegance of this writer's manner would be more admired if it had somewhat more of simplicity.

TELL me not, sweet, I am unkinde,

That from the nunnerie

Of thy chaste breast and quiet minde,

To warre and armes I flie.

True, a new mistresse now I chase,

The first foe in the field;

And with a stronger faith imbrace
A sword, a horse, a shield.

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Yet this inconstancy is such,

As you too shall adore;

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I could not love thee, deare, so much,

Lov'd I not honour more.