Man is his own star, and the soul that canRender an honest and a perfect manCommands all light, all influence, all fate.Nothing to him falls early, or too late.Our acts our angels are, or good or ill,Our fatal shadows that walk by us still.
The Honest Man's Fortune (1647), epilogue. Compare: "Every man hath a good and a bad angel attending on him in particular all his life long", Robert Burton, Anatomy of Melancholy, part i. sect. 2, memb. 1, subsect. 2.
That soul that canBe honest is the only perfect man.
The Honest Man's Fortune (1647), epilogue. Compare: "An honest man's the noblest work of God", Alexander Pope, Essay on Man, epistle iv. line 248.
Weep no more, nor sigh, nor groan,Sorrow calls no time that's gone;Violets plucked, the sweetest rainMakes not fresh nor grow again.
The Queen of Corinth (1647), Act III, sc. ii. Compare: "Weep no more, Lady! weep no more, Thy sorrow is in vain; For violets plucked, the sweetest showers Will ne'er make grow again", Thomas Percy, Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, "The Friar of Orders Gray".
Of all the paths lead to a woman's lovePity's the straightest.
The Knight of Malta (1647), Act I, sc. i.
There is no jesting with edge tools.
The Little French Lawyer (1647), Act IV, sc. vii.
Let's meet and either do or die.
The Island Princess (1647), Act II, sc. iv. Compare: "Let us do or die", Robert Burns, Bannockburn; same in Thomas Campbell, Gertrude of Wyoming, part iii. stanza 37.
Hence, all you vain delights,As short as are the nightsWherein you spend your folly!There's naught in this life sweetBut only melancholy;O sweetest melancholy!
The Nice Valor (1647), Melancholy. Compare: "Naught so sweet as melancholy", Robert Burton, Anatomy of Melancholy.
Drink today, and drown all sorrow;You shall perhaps not do't tomorrow.
Act II, sc. ii.
And he that will to bed go soberFalls with the leaf in October.
Act II, sc. ii. The following well-known catch, or glee, is formed on this song: "He who goes to bed, and goes to bed sober, Falls as the leaves do, and dies in October; But he who goes to bed, and goes to bed mellow, Lives as he ought to do, and dies an honest fellow".
Three merry boys, and three merry boys,And three merry boys are we.As ever did sing in a hempen stringUnder the gallows tree.
Act III, sc. iii. Compare: "Three merry men be we", George Peele, Old Wives' Tale, 1595. John Webster (quoted), Westward Hoe, 1607.