Twelfth Night, or King and Queen
Now, now the mirth comes
With the cake full of plums,
Where Bean's the king of the sport here;
Beside, we must know
The Pea also
Must revel, as Queen in the court here.
Begin then to choose,
(This night, as ye use)
Who shall for the present delight here;
Be a King by the lot,
And who shall not
Be Twelve-day Queen for the night here.
Which known, let us make
Joy-sops with the cake;
And let not a man then be seen here,
Who unurg'd will not drink
To the base from the brink
A health to the King and the Queen here.
Next crown the bowl full
With gentle lamb's-wool;
Add sugar, nutmeg, and ginger,
With store of ale, too;
And this ye must do
To make the wassail a swinger.
Give then to the King
And Queen wassailing:
And though with ale ye be wet here,
Yet part ye from hence,
As free from offence
As when ye innocent met here.
~~
Robert Herrick (1591-1674)
from Herrick's Hesperides & Noble Numbers, 1906
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