 | Select poems of Edward Hovel Thurlow |  |
31
ODE XX.
[Stood Niobe, of old, a stone]
Stood Niobe, of old, a stone
Meander's mountain bank upon:
And thou, Pandion's child, didst fly
A restless swallow through the sky.
Meander's mountain bank upon:
And thou, Pandion's child, didst fly
A restless swallow through the sky.
What should I wish? what fatal change,
If winged fiery thought should range?
My fair, a mirror I would be,
That you might always look on me;
Your inner garment, to be borne,
My love, by you both eve and morn;
The water too, wherein you lave;
What better fortune could I have?
Or ointment delicate and choice,
Wherewith anointed you rejoice;
Or else the girdle lightly prest
Underneath the tender breast;
Or separate pearl upon your neck;
Or, since to you I am a wreck,
And lost in love, your sandal be,
Only, that you may tread on me.
If winged fiery thought should range?
My fair, a mirror I would be,
That you might always look on me;
Your inner garment, to be borne,
My love, by you both eve and morn;
The water too, wherein you lave;
What better fortune could I have?
Or ointment delicate and choice,
Wherewith anointed you rejoice;
Or else the girdle lightly prest
Underneath the tender breast;
32
Or, since to you I am a wreck,
And lost in love, your sandal be,
Only, that you may tread on me.
| Select poems of Edward Hovel Thurlow | |