![]() | Stones from The Quarry | ![]() |
102
TO ------.
Oh if thy beauty ádmit parallel,Or sole-superlative comparative,
What substance or what shadow can me give
Or one or other, thee or thine to tell,
And cheat blank absence with some semblable!
If substance, Perfects for perfection strive,
Yet thy love betters every Best alive;
If shadow, Best to thy Best is but Well,
But in so poor degree! I will not seek
To parcel out in poor particulars
Thy single excellence; all speech were weak,
All figures: as the moon with all her stars,
So all thy handmaid graces to thy meek,
Pure soul, whose beauty nothing earthly mars!
![]() | Stones from The Quarry | ![]() |