Occasional Verses of Edward Lord Herbert, Baron of Cherbery and Castle-Island Deceased in August, 1648 |
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To her Mind.
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 | Occasional Verses of Edward Lord Herbert, Baron of Cherbery and Castle-Island |  |
To her Mind.
Exalted Mind! whose Character doth bear
The first Idea of Perfection, whence
Adam's came, and stands so, how canst appear
In words? that only tell what here-
Tofore hath been; thou need'st as deep a sence
As prophecy, since there's no difference
In telling what thou art, and what shall be:
Then pardon me that Rapture do profess,
At thy outside, that want, for what I see,
Description, if here amaz'd I cease
Thus—
Yet grant one Question, and no more, crav'd under
Thy gracious leave, How, if thou would'st express
Thy self to us, thou should'st be still a wonder?
The first Idea of Perfection, whence
Adam's came, and stands so, how canst appear
In words? that only tell what here-
Tofore hath been; thou need'st as deep a sence
As prophecy, since there's no difference
In telling what thou art, and what shall be:
Then pardon me that Rapture do profess,
At thy outside, that want, for what I see,
Description, if here amaz'd I cease
Thus—
Yet grant one Question, and no more, crav'd under
Thy gracious leave, How, if thou would'st express
Thy self to us, thou should'st be still a wonder?
Thus ends my Love, but this doth grieve me most,
That so it ends, but that ends too, this yet,
Besides the Wishes, hopes and time I lost,
Troubles my mind awhile, that I am set
Free, worse then deny'd: I can neither boast
Choice nor success, as my Case is, nor get
Pardon from my self, that I loved not
A better Mistress, or her worse; this Debt
Only's her due, still, that she be forgot
Ere chang'd, lest I love none; this done, the taint
Of foul Inconstancy is clear'd at least
In me, there only rests but to unpaint
Her form in my mind, that so dispossest
It be a Temple, but without a Saint.
That so it ends, but that ends too, this yet,
Besides the Wishes, hopes and time I lost,
Troubles my mind awhile, that I am set
7
Choice nor success, as my Case is, nor get
Pardon from my self, that I loved not
A better Mistress, or her worse; this Debt
Only's her due, still, that she be forgot
Ere chang'd, lest I love none; this done, the taint
Of foul Inconstancy is clear'd at least
In me, there only rests but to unpaint
Her form in my mind, that so dispossest
It be a Temple, but without a Saint.
| Occasional Verses of Edward Lord Herbert, Baron of Cherbery and Castle-Island | |