The poetical works of Thomas Traherne faithfully reprinted from the author's original manuscript together with Poems of Felicity reprinted from the Burney manuscript and Poems from Various Sources: Edited with preface and notes by Gladys I. Wade |
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The Odour. |
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 | The poetical works of Thomas Traherne |  |
The Odour.
These Hands are Jewels to the Ey,
Like Wine, or Oil, or Hony, to the Taste:
These Feet which here I wear beneath the Sky
Are us'd, yet never waste.
My Members all do yield a sweet Perfume;
They minister Delight, yet not consume.
Like Wine, or Oil, or Hony, to the Taste:
These Feet which here I wear beneath the Sky
Are us'd, yet never waste.
My Members all do yield a sweet Perfume;
They minister Delight, yet not consume.
Ye living Gems, how Tru! how Near!
How Reall, Useful, Pleasant! O how Good!
How Valuable! yea, how Sweet! how Fair!
B'ing once well understood!
A Gem retains its Worth by being intire,
Sweet Scents diffus'd do gratify Desire.
How Reall, Useful, Pleasant! O how Good!
How Valuable! yea, how Sweet! how Fair!
B'ing once well understood!
A Gem retains its Worth by being intire,
Sweet Scents diffus'd do gratify Desire.
Can melting Sugar sweeten Wine?
Can Light communicated keep its Name?
Can Jewels solid be, tho they do shine?
Embody'd Fire flame?
Ye solid are, and yet do Light dispence;
Abide the same, tho yield an Influence.
Can Light communicated keep its Name?
Can Jewels solid be, tho they do shine?
Embody'd Fire flame?
Ye solid are, and yet do Light dispence;
Abide the same, tho yield an Influence.
Your Uses flow while ye abide:
The Services which I from you receiv
Like sweet Infusions throu me daily glide
Ev'n while they Sense deceiv,
B'ing unobserv'd: for only Spirits see
What Treasures Services and Uses be.
The Services which I from you receiv
Like sweet Infusions throu me daily glide
Ev'n while they Sense deceiv,
B'ing unobserv'd: for only Spirits see
What Treasures Services and Uses be.
150
The Services which from you flow
Are such diffusiv Joys as know no measure;
Which shew His boundless Lov who did bestow
These Gifts to be my Treasure.
Your Substance is the Tree on which it grows;
Your Uses are the Oil that from it flows.
Are such diffusiv Joys as know no measure;
Which shew His boundless Lov who did bestow
These Gifts to be my Treasure.
Your Substance is the Tree on which it grows;
Your Uses are the Oil that from it flows.
Thus Hony flows from Rocks of Stone;
Thus Oil from Wood; thus Cider, Milk, and Wine,
From Trees and Flesh; thus Corn from Earth; to one
That's hev'nly and divine.
But He that cannot like an Angel see,
In Heven its self shall dwell in Misery.
Thus Oil from Wood; thus Cider, Milk, and Wine,
From Trees and Flesh; thus Corn from Earth; to one
That's hev'nly and divine.
But He that cannot like an Angel see,
In Heven its self shall dwell in Misery.
If first I learn not what's Your Price
Which are alive, and are to me so near;
How shall I all the Joys of Paradise,
Which are so Great and Dear,
Esteem? Gifts ev'n at distance are our Joys,
But lack of Sense the Benefit destroys.
Which are alive, and are to me so near;
How shall I all the Joys of Paradise,
Which are so Great and Dear,
Esteem? Gifts ev'n at distance are our Joys,
But lack of Sense the Benefit destroys.
Liv to thy Self; thy Limbs esteem:
From Hev'n they came; with Mony can't be bought,
And b'ing such Works as God himself beseem,
May precious well be thought.
Contemplat then the Valu of this Treasure,
By that alone thou feelest all the Pleasure.
From Hev'n they came; with Mony can't be bought,
And b'ing such Works as God himself beseem,
May precious well be thought.
Contemplat then the Valu of this Treasure,
By that alone thou feelest all the Pleasure.
Like Amber fair thy Fingers grow;
With fragrant Hony-sucks thy Head is crown'd;
Like Stars, thine Eys; thy Cheeks like Roses shew:
All are Delights profound.
Talk with thy self; thy self enjoy and see:
At once the Mirror and the Object be.
With fragrant Hony-sucks thy Head is crown'd;
Like Stars, thine Eys; thy Cheeks like Roses shew:
All are Delights profound.
Talk with thy self; thy self enjoy and see:
At once the Mirror and the Object be.
151
What's Cinnamon, compar'd to thee?
Thy Body is than Cedars better far:
Those Fruits and Flowers which in Fields I see,
With thine, can not compare.
Where thou hast mov'd aright, the Scent I find
Of fragrant Myrrh and Aloes left behind.
Thy Body is than Cedars better far:
Those Fruits and Flowers which in Fields I see,
With thine, can not compare.
Where thou hast mov'd aright, the Scent I find
Of fragrant Myrrh and Aloes left behind.
But what is Myrrh? What Cinnamon?
What Aloes, Cassia, Spices, Hony, Wine?
O sacred Uses! You to think upon
Than these I more incline.
To see, taste, smell, observ; is to no End,
If I the Use of each don't apprehend.
What Aloes, Cassia, Spices, Hony, Wine?
O sacred Uses! You to think upon
Than these I more incline.
To see, taste, smell, observ; is to no End,
If I the Use of each don't apprehend.
| The poetical works of Thomas Traherne | |