Works

That flow of gallants which approach
To kiss thy hand from out the coach;
That fleet of lackeys which do run
Before thy swift postilion;
Those strong-hoof'd mules, which we behold...

Mercy, the wise Athenians held to be
Not an affection, but a deity.

God hath two wings which He doth ever move;
The one is mercy, and the next is love:
Under the first the sinners ever trust;
And with the last He still directs the just.

Our honours and our commendations be
Due to the merits, not authority.

True mirth resides not in the smiling skin;
The sweetest solace is to act no sin.

Though hourly comforts from the gods we see,
No life is yet life-proof from misery.

In things a moderation keep:
Kings ought to shear, not skin their sheep.

Fight thou with shafts of silver and o'ercome,
When no force else can get the masterdom.

When all birds else do of their music fail,
Money's the still-sweet-singing nightingale!

The mountains of the Scriptures are, some say,
Moses, and Jesus, called Joshua:
The prophets, mountains of the Old are meant,
Th' apostles, mounts of the New Testament.

The time the bridegroom stays from hence
Is but the time of penitence.

'Tis still observ'd those men most valiant are,
That are most modest ere they come to war.

He that may sin, sins least: leave to transgress
Enfeebles much the seeds of wickedness.

In desp'rate cases all, or most, are known
Commanders, few for execution.

Ere I go hence and be no more
Seen to the world, I'll give the score
I owe unto a female child,
And that is this, a verse enstyled
My daughter's dowry; having which,...

I have beheld two lovers in a night
Hatched o'er with moonshine from their stolen delight
(When this to that, and that to this, had given
A kiss to such a jewel of the heaven,...

Among the myrtles as I walk'd
Love and my sighs thus intertalk'd:
Tell me, said I, in deep distress,
Where I may find my Shepherdess?
Thou fool, said Love, know'st thou not this?...

We trust not to the multitude in war,
But to the stout, and those that skilful are.

Who begs to die for fear of human need,
Wisheth his body, not his soul, good speed.

Art quickens nature; care will make a face;
Neglected beauty perisheth apace.