Ben Jonson (1572-1637)
A Celebration of Charis: IV. Her Triumph
1See the chariot at hand here of Love,
2 Wherein my lady rideth!
3Each that draws is a swan or a dove,
4 And well the car Love guideth.
5As she goes, all hearts do duty
6 Unto her beauty;
7And enamour'd, do wish, so they might
8 But enjoy such a sight,
9That they still were to run by her side,
10Through swords, through seas, whither she would ride.
11Do but look on her eyes, they do light
12 All that Love's world compriseth!
13Do but look on her hair, it is bright
14 As Love's star when it riseth!
15Do but mark, her forehead's smoother
16 Than words that soothe her;
17And from her arched brows, such a grace
18 Sheds itself through the face
19As alone there triumphs to the life
20All the gain, all the good, of the elements' strife.
21Have you seen but a bright lily grow,
22 Before rude hands have touch'd it?
23Ha' you mark'd but the fall o' the snow
24 Before the soil hath smutch'd it?
25Ha' you felt the wool o' the beaver?
26 Or swan's down ever?
27Or have smelt o' the bud o' the briar?
28 Or the nard in the fire?
29Or have tasted the bag of the bee?
30Oh so white! Oh so soft! Oh so sweet is she!
Notes
1] chariot ... Love. The description strongly suggests that Jonson has here in mind the elaborate spectacle and machinery of court masque. Herford and Simpson in their edition of Jonson conjecture that "Charis was probably the lady who played Venus ... in the masque, hitherto known as the Hue and Cry after Cupid, performed at Lord Haddington's marriage in 1608.''
24] smutch'd: smudged.
28] nard: aromatic ointment made from spikenard.
Online text copyright © 2009, Ian Lancashire (the Department of English) and the University of Toronto.
Published by the Web Development Group, Information Technology Services, University of Toronto Libraries.
Original text: Ben Jonson, The workes of Benjamin Jonson (London: R. Bishop, sold by A. Crooke, 1640). STC 14754. stc Fisher Rare Book Library (Toronto). Also British Library copy as microfilmed in English Books 1475-1640. Ann Arbor: University Microfilms. P & R 14754 * 20250.
First publication date:
1640
RPO poem editor: F. D. Hoeniger
RP edition: 3RP 1.158.
Recent editing: 4:2002/4/3
Composition date:
1612
-
1616
Rhyme: ababccddee
Other poems by Ben Jonson
