A Dissert*
Sweet marmalade of kisses new gathered,
Preserved children that are not fathered:
Sugar of beauty which melts away soon,
Marchpane of youth, and childish macaroon.
Sugar-plum words most sweet on the lips,
And wafer promises, which waste into chips.
Biscuit of love, which crumbles all away,
Jelly of fear, that quaking, quivering lay.
Then came in a fresh green-sickness cheese,
And tempting apples, like those eat by Eve; [10]
With cream of honour, thick and good,
Firm nuts of friendship by it stood.
Grapes of delight, dull spirits to revive,
Whose juice, ‘tis said, doth Nature keep alive.
Then Nature rose, when eat, and drank her fill,
To rest her self in ease, she’s pleased with still.