Three golden tulips thrice more fair Than other golden tulips were-- 'And yet,' he smiled as he took one up, And feasted on its yellow cup,-- 'I wonder how many eggs you'd buy! By Bacchus, I've half a mind to try! 'One golden bloom for one golden yolk-- Nay, on my word, sir, I mean no joke-- Gold for gold is fair dealing, sir.' Think of the grocer gaping there! Or the baker, if I went and said, --'This tulip for a loaf of bread, God's beauty for your kneaded grain;' Or the vintner--'For this flower of mine A flagon, pray, of yellow wine, And you shall keep the change for gain.' Ah me, on what a different earth I and these fellows had our birth, Strange that these golden things should be For them so poor, so rich for me.' Ended his sigh, the poet searched his shelf-- Seeking another poet to feed himself; Then sadly went, and, full of shame and grief, Sold his last Swinburne for a plate of beef. Thus poets too, to fill the hungry maw, Must eat each other--'tis the eternal law. ALL SUNG What shall I sing when all is sung, And every tale is told, And in the world is nothing young That was not long since old? Why should I fret unwilling ears With old things sung anew, While voices from the old dead years Still go on singing too? A dead man singing of his maid Makes all my rhymes in vain, Yet his poor lips must fade and fade, And mine shall kiss again. Why should I strive through weary moons To make my music true? Only the dead men knew the tunes The live world dances to. CORYDON'S FAREWELL TO HIS PIPE Yea, it is best, dear friends, who have so oft Fed full my ears with praises sweet and soft, Sweeter and softer than my song should win, Too sweet and soft--I must not listen more, Lest its dear perilous honey make me mad, And once again an overweening lad Presume against Apollo. Nay, no more! 'Tis not to pipes like mine sing stars at morn, Nor stars at night dance in their solemn dance: Nay, stars! why tell of stars? the very thrush Putteth my daintiest cunning to the blush And boasteth him the hedgerow laureate. Yea, dimmest daisies lost amid the grass, One might have deemed blessed us for looking at, Would rather choose,--yea, so it is, alas!-- The meanest bird that from its tiny throat Droppeth the pearl of one monotonous note, Than any music I can bring to pass. So, let me go: for, while I linger here, Piping these dainty ditties for your ear, To win that dearer honey for my own, Daylong my Thestylis doth sit alone, Weeping, mayhap, because the gods have given Song but not sheep--the rarer gift of heaven; And little Phyllis solitary grows, And little Corydon unheeded goes. Sheep are the shepherd's business,--let me go,-- Piping his pastime when the sun is low: But I, alas! the other order keep, Piping my business, and forgot my sheep.