WHAT WILL YOU GIVE?

What will you give me, if I will wed?

“A golden gown

To come sweetly down,

And deck you from foot to head.”

How will you keep me, if I am cold?

“By a heart so warm,

The bravest storm

Dare not force through my strong hands’ hold.”

How will you please me, if I should thirst?

“Why by the rape

Of the purple grape,

Which the summer and sun have nursed.”

If I should hunger what may I eat?

“For you the skies

The falcon flies,

And the hounds on the stag are fleet.”

How can you comfort when fair youth dies,

When the spirit’ s fain

For a purer gain,

Than the satisfied flesh supplies?

“But this I promise, when starved and cold

A lonely soul

Finds for its goal

A six-foot bed and churchyard mould.”