It matters not how strait the gate,
  How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate: 
  I am the captain of my soul.

31. I.  M. Margaritae Sorori (1886)

A late lark twitters from the quiet skies;
And from the west,
Where the sun, his day’s work ended,
Lingers as in content,
There falls on the old, grey city
An influence luminous and serene,
A shining peace.

The smoke ascends
In a rosy-and-golden haze.  The spires
Shine, and are changed.  In the valley
Shadows rise.  The lark sings on.  The sun,
Closing his benediction,
Sinks, and the darkening air
Thrills with a sense of the triumphing night—­
Night with her train of stars
And her great gift of sleep. 
So be my passing! 
My task accomplished and the long day done,
My wages taken, and in my heart
Some late lark singing,
Let me be gathered to the quiet west,
The sundown splendid and serene,
Death.

1898 Edition.

* * * * *

GEORGE HERBERT.

32. Virtue.

Sweet day, so cool, so calm, so bright,
The bridal of the earth and sky: 
The dew shall weep thy fall to-night;
    For thou must die.

Sweet rose, whose hue angry and brave
Bids the rash gazer wipe his eye: 
Thy root is ever in its grave,
    And thou must die.

Sweet spring, full of sweet days and roses,
A box where sweets compacted lie;
My music shows ye have your closes,
    And all must die.

Only a sweet and virtuous soul,
Like season’d timber, never gives;
But though the whole world turn to coal,
    Then chiefly lives.

1633 Edition.

* * * * *

ROBERT HERRICK.

33. To the Virgins, to make much of Time.

1.  Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
      Old Time is still a-flying: 
    And this same flower that smiles to-day,
      To-morrow will be dying.

2.  The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,
      The higher he’s a-getting;
    The sooner will his race be run,
      And nearer he’s to setting.

3.  That age is best, which is the first,
      When youth and blood are warmer;
    But being spent, the worse, and worst
      Times, still succeed the former.

4.  Then be not coy, but use your time;
      And while ye may, go marry: 
    For having lost but once your prime,
      You may for ever tarry.

34. To Anthea, who may command him anything.

1.  Bid me to live, and I will live
      Thy Protestant to be: 
    Or bid me love, and I will give
     A loving heart to thee.

2.  A heart as soft, a heart as kind,
      A heart as sound and free,
    As in the whole world thou canst find,
      That heart I’ll give to thee.