Anacreon :: :: University of Virginia Library

When Venus to Cythera's top convey'd
Sleeping Ascanius, 'mongst soft violets layd,
Showres of pale Roses on the Boy she strew'd,
And with sweet Waters all the Place bedew'd;
She then her old Adonian Fire retains,
The well-known flame steals gently through her vains;
How oft her Nephew offer'd she t'imbrace!
How often said, such my Adonis was!
But fearing to disturb his soft Repose,
Thousands of Kisses on the Flowers bestows;
The breath which from her Lip the Rose receives
Whispers kinde Warmth into its glowing Leaves;
And from her quickning Touch new Kisses rise,
Whose ripe Encrease her full Joy multiplies
Then round the Earth, the Goddess by a Pair
Of milk-white Swans drawn through the fleeting Air,
Sows Kisses all the way, and as they fell
On the fat Glebe, thrice murmurs a Dark Spell.
Hence a kinde Harvest for sick Lovers grows,
Hence springs the onely cure of all my woes.

Dear Kisses! you that scorched Hearts renew,
Born of the Rose pregnant with sacred Dew,
Upon your Poet deathless Verse distill,
That may endure long as Medusa's Hill,

Or whilst Love, mindfull still of Romes dear Race,
Shall with his Numbers their soft Language grace.

II. [As in a thousand wanton Curles the Vine]

As in a thousand wanton Curles the Vine
Doth the lov'd Elme embrace;
As clasping Ivy round the Oak doth twine
To kiss his leavy Face;

So thou about my Neck thy Arms shalt fling,
Joyning to mine thy Breast;
So shall my Arms about thy fair Neck cling,
My Lips on thine imprest.

Ceres nor Bacchus, Care of Life nor Sleep
Shall force me to retire;
But we at once will on each others Lip
Our mutual Souls expire.

Then hand in hand down to th'Elïzian Plains
(Crossing the Stygian Lake)
Wee'l through those Fields where Spring eternal reigns
Our pleasing Journey take.

There their fair Mistresses the Heroes lead,
And their old Loves repeat,
Singing or dancing in a flowry Mead
With Mirtles round beset.

Roses and Violets smile beneath a Skreen
Of ever verdant Bayes;
And gentle Zephyr amorously between
Their Leaves untroubled playes.

There constantly the pregnant Earth unplow'd
Her fruitful store supplies:
When We come thither, all the happy Crowd
From their green Thrones will rise.

There Thou in Place above Joves numerous Train
Of Mistresses shalt sit;
Hers Hellen, Homer will not his disdain
For Thee, and Me to quit.

III. [A kiss I begg'd, and thou didst joyn]

A kiss I begg'd, and thou didst joyn
Thy Lips to mine;
Then, as afraid snatch'd back their Treasure,
And mock my pleasure;
Again my Dearest! for in this
Thou onely gav'st Desire, and not a Kiss.

IV. [Tis no Kiss my Fair bestows]

Tis no Kiss my Fair bestows;
Nectar 'tis whence new Life flows;
All the Sweets which nimble Bees
In their Ozier Treasuries
With unequall'd Art repose,
In one Kiss her Lips disclose.
These, if I should many take,
Soon would me Immortal make,
Rais'd to the divine Abodes,
And the Banquets of the Gods.

Be not then too lavish, Fair!
But this heavenly Treasure spare,
'Less thou'lt too Immortal be:
For without thy Companie,
What to Me were the Abodes,
Or the Banquets of the Gods?

V. [When thou thy pliant Arms dost wreath]

When thou thy pliant Arms dost wreath
About my Neck, and gently breath
Into my Breast that soft sweet Air
With which thy Soul doth mine repair,
When my faint Life thou draw'st away,
My Life which scorching Flames decay,
Orecharg'd my panting Bosom boyles,
Whose Feavour thy kind Art beguiles,
And with the Breath that did inspire
Doth mildly fan my glowing Fire,
Transported then I cry, above
All other Deities is Love!
Or if a Deity there be
Greater then Love, 'tis onely Thee.

VI. [Our Bargain for two thousand Kisses made]

Our Bargain for two thousand Kisses made,
A thousand I receiv'd, a thousand payd:
The Number I confess thou hast supply'd,
But Love with Number is not satisfy'd.

None praise the Harvest who can count their Ears,
Or sum the Blades of Grass the Meadow wears;
Who for a hundred Clusters Bacchus fees?
Or sues to Pales for a thousand Bees?
When pious Jove waters the thirsty Plain,
We number not the drops of falling Rain;
Or when the troubled Air with Tempests quakes,
And he displeas'd, in hand his fear'd Arms takes,
At random on the Earth he scatters Hail,
And Fruit or Corn securely doth assail:
Or good or bad, Heavens Gifts exceed all Sum;
A Majesty that doth Joves House become.

Wilt thou dear Goddess then (more bright then she
Who in a Shell sail'd through the smiling Sea)
Kisses, thy heavenly Gifts, strictly confine
To number, yet to count my Sighs decline?
Or sum the Drops whose inexhausted Spring
Flows from my Eyes, my pale Cheeks furrowing?
If thou wilt reckon, reckon both together;
If both thou number not, ah, number neither.
Give me (to ease the Pain my griev'd Soul bears)
Numberless Kisses, for unnumbred Tears.

VII. [Kisses a hundred, hundred fold]

Kisses a hundred, hundred fold,
A hundred by a thousand told,
Thousands by thousands numbred o're,
As many thousand thousand more
As are the Drops the Seas comprize,
As are the Stars that paint the Skies,

To this soft Cheek, this speaking Ey,
This swelling Lip will I apply.

But whilst on these my Kisses dwell
Close as the Cockle clasps her shell,
This swelling Lip I cannot spy,
This softer Cheek, this speaking Eye:
Nor those sweet Smiles, which (like the Ray
Of Cynthius driving Clouds away)
From my swoln Eyes dispel all Tears,
From my sad Heart all jealous Fears.
Alass! what Discontents arise
Betwixt my æmulous Lips and Eyes!
Can I with patience brook that Jove
Should be a Partner in my Love,
When my strict Eye the Rivalship
Disdains to suffer of my Lip?

VIII. [Not alwayes give a melting Kiss]

Not alwayes give a melting Kiss,
And Smiles with pleasing Whispers joyn'd;
Nor alwayes extasi'd with Bliss
About my Neck thy fair Arms wind.

The wary Lover learns by measure
To circumscribe his greatest joy;
Lest, what well-husbanded yeilds pleasure,
Might by the Repetition cloy.

When thrice three Kisses I require,
Give me but two, withhold the other;

Such as cold Virgins to their Sire,
Or chaste Diana gives her Brother.

Then wantonly snatch back thy Lip,
And smoothly, as sly Fishes glide
Through Water giving me the slip,
Thy self in some dark Corner hide.

I'le follow Thee with eager haste
And having caught (as Hawks their Pray)
In my victorious Arm held fast
Panting for Breath, bear thee away.

Then thy soft Arms about me twin'd
Thou shalt use all thy skill to please me,
And offer all that was behind,
The poor Seven Kisses, to appease me.

How much mistaken wilt thou be!
For seven times seven shalt thou pay,
Whilst in my Arms I fetter Thee
Lest thou once more should'st get away.

'Till I at last have made thee swear
By all thy Beauty and my Love,
That thou again the same severe
Revenge for the same Crime would'st prove.

IX. [I lay of Life by thee, my Life, bereav'd.]

I lay of Life by thee, my Life, bereav'd.
About thy Neck my Arms were loosely weav'd.
Supplies of Breath my wasted Spirits fail,
Nor could relieve my Heart with one fresh Gale:
Styx now before my Eyes appeard, the dark
Region, and aged Carons swarthy Bark;
When thou upon my Lip a Kiss imprest
Drawn from the depth of thy enlivening Brest:
A Kiss, that call'd me from the Stygian Lake,
And made the Ferryman go empty back:
Ah! I mistook! he went not back alone,
My mournful Shade along with him is gone;
Part of thy Soul within this Body raigns,
And friendly my declining Limbs sustains;
Which of return impatient, roves about,
Ransaking every Passage to get out;
And if no kindness she from thee receive,
Ev'n now her falling Tenement will leave.
Come then, unite thy melting Lip to mine,
And let one Spirit both our Breasts combine,
'Till in an Extasie of wild desire
Together both our Breasts one Life expire.

X. [Th' Idalian Boy his Arrow to the Head]

Th' Idalian Boy his Arrow to the Head
(Neæra) drew, ready to strike thee dead;
But when thy Brow, and on thy Brow thy Hair,
Thy Eyes quick restless Light; thy Cheeks more fair,

Breasts whiter then his Mothers he did view,
Away his wavering Hand the slack Shaft threw:
Then to thy Arms with childish Joy he skips,
Printing a thousand Kisses on thy Lips;
Which Cyprian Spirits, and the Mirtles Juice
Into thy Bosome gently did infuse;
And by the Gods, and his fair Mother swore,
He never would attempt to hurt thee more.
Wonder We then thy Kisses are so sweet?
Or why no Love thy cold Brest will admit?

To these kinde Blandishments, with glad
Whispers, and mirthful Dalliance add;
With grateful Smiles, that may
Our full Delight betray;
As two Chaonian Turtles bill,
And the soft Air with murmurs fill,
When Winters rigid Snows
Away young Zephyr blows;
Rest on my Cheek in Extasie,
Ready to close thy dying Eye;
And as thou faint'st away
Me to uphold thee pray:
My Arms about thee I will twine;
My warm to thy cold Bosome joyn,
And call thee back from Death,
With a long Kisses Breath:
'Till me like Fate of Life bereave,
Who in that Kiss my Spirit leave,
And as I sink away
Thee to uphold me pray:
Thy Arms about me thou shalt ty,
Thy warm to my cold Breast apply,
And summon me from Death
With a long Kisses Breath.
Thus let us Dear in mutual Joy
The florid part of Time employ;
For Age our Lives will waste;
Sicknesse and Death make haste.

XII. [In such a Colour as the Morning Rose]

In such a Colour as the Morning Rose
Doth water'd with the Tears of Night disclose
The blushing Kisses of Neæra shine
When they the humid Print retain of mine;
Round which the Beauties of her Face beset,
As when some white hand crops a Violet;
As Flowers with Cherries, that together wear
The Spring and Summers Livery, appear.
Unhappy! why now when thy kinde Lip warms
My Soul, am I constrain'd to quit thy Arms?
This Crimson Treasure ah reserve for Me,
Till Night return and bring Me back to Thee;
But if mean-time they any other seek,
May they become far paler then my Cheek.

XIII. [Neæra's Lips, (to which adds Grace]

Neæra's Lips, (to which adds Grace
The ambient Whiteness of her Face,
As Coral Berries smiling ly
Within their Case of Ivory)
When Venus saw, she wept, and all
Her little Loves did to her call.
What boots it (cries she) that on Ide
From Pallas and Joves Sister-Bride
My Lips the glorious Prize did gain
By judgement of the Phrygian Swain,

If now another Arbiter
Neæra's may to mine prefer?
Go, spend upon him every Dart,
Empty your Quivers on his Heart;
But into hers a Frost, that may
Congeal her youthful veins, convey.
This scarce was spoke, but strait I felt
My Soul in a soft Flame to melt;
Whilst thy white Breast, which far outgoes
In coldness Winters sharpest Snows,
In hardness Adria's stubborn Rocks,
Thy suffering Lover safely mocks.
Ungrateful, for those Lips am I
Tormented thus, nor know'st thou why
Thou hat'st, or what Effects may rise
From discontented Deities:
Remit thy Anger, and assume
A smile that may thy Cheek become;
Thy Lips (of all my Misery
The onely Cause) to mine apply;
And from my scorching Bosom draw
A warmth that may thy Coldness thaw;
Jove fear not, nor Cythera's hate;
Beauty controls the Power of Fate.

XIV. [Ye wing'd Confectioners; why Thyme and Roses]

Ye wing'd Confectioners; why Thyme and Roses
The Sweets the vernal Violet discloses
Why suck ye, or the breath of flowry Dill?
Come, at my Mistresse Lips your soft Bags fill:

Thym, and the Scent of Roses they produce,
The vernal Violets Nectarean Juice:
The blooming Dills sweet Breath far off they spred,
They're steept in the true Tears Narcissus shed,
And bath'd in Hyacinthus fragrant Blood,
Such, as when falling in a mixed flood
Of heav'nly Nectar; whilst the blended showre
Rais'd from the Earth a party-colour'd flowre.

But when I come to taste these Joyes with you,
Do not, ungrateful! drive me from my Due,
Nor greedy with your store stretch every Hive
Lest of all sweetness you her Lips deprive
And in her next (insipid) Kisses, I
Finde the reward of my Discovery
Nor wound her soft Lips with your little Darts,
Wounds far more deadly her bright Eye imparts:
Believ't, your wrongs will never pass forgot;
Suck Honey gently thence but sting her not.

University of Virginia Library

KISSES.

I.

[When Venus to Cythera's top convey'd]

II.

[As in a thousand wanton Curles the Vine]

III.

[A kiss I begg'd, and thou didst joyn]

IV.

[Tis no Kiss my Fair bestows]

V.

[When thou thy pliant Arms dost wreath]

VI.

[Our Bargain for two thousand Kisses made]

VII.

[Kisses a hundred, hundred fold]

VIII.

[Not alwayes give a melting Kiss]

IX.

[I lay of Life by thee, my Life, bereav'd.]

X.

[Th' Idalian Boy his Arrow to the Head]

XI.

[Thou then Latona's Star more bright]

XII.

[In such a Colour as the Morning Rose]

XIII.

[Neæra's Lips, (to which adds Grace]

XIV.

[Ye wing'd Confectioners; why Thyme and Roses]