 | The Shorter Poems of Ralph Knevet |  |
[27] The Apologye
I blesse those calmes,
Which gave me leisure,
For to endite these holy psalmes,
In stead of songs of pleasure.
I praise my God, who mee inspires
With pure, and sanctify'd desires.
Which gave me leisure,
For to endite these holy psalmes,
In stead of songs of pleasure.
I praise my God, who mee inspires
With pure, and sanctify'd desires.
Although my Muse,
Was not so chast,
As some immur'd, untouch'd Recluse,
I did no paper waste,
To varnish with my rymes of praise,
The fame of any wanton Thais.
Was not so chast,
As some immur'd, untouch'd Recluse,
I did no paper waste,
To varnish with my rymes of praise,
The fame of any wanton Thais.
Although I was
No Rechabite,
I never did dote on a glasse,
Like to Anacreon light:
Nor ever had I a designe,
Lines to sophisticate with wine.
No Rechabite,
I never did dote on a glasse,
Like to Anacreon light:
Nor ever had I a designe,
Lines to sophisticate with wine.
I drinke no water
(Like Cassius)
Am no Apicius at a platter,
Nor yet a Lessius:
I eate and drinke; but not by weight,
Yet am no slave to appetite.
(Like Cassius)
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Nor yet a Lessius:
I eate and drinke; but not by weight,
Yet am no slave to appetite.
(Lord) let thy grace
Turne my desires,
From objects, that are vaine, and base:
Fill mee with holy fires,
Least I become a brutish thing
Like the transform'd Assyrian King.
Turne my desires,
From objects, that are vaine, and base:
Fill mee with holy fires,
Least I become a brutish thing
Like the transform'd Assyrian King.
| The Shorter Poems of Ralph Knevet | |