 | Poems Upon Several Occasions |  |
The Looking-Glass.
I
Oh happy thing! what would I give to beMy Mistress's Glass, instead of thee?
Thou see'st the Glorious Image ev'ry Day,
For which I hourly pine away.
II
By thine own Light thou scarce her Form canst view;Thy very Light and Essence too
Proceeds from her, as Phœbus's borrow'd Ray,
Reflects the Image of the Day.
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III
Would she but cast such quickning Beams on me,I should her living Image be;
Look when she pleas'd, her Picture she would find
Deeply imprinted in my Mind.
IV
The faithless Glass ten thousand Forms does bear,When she alone should revel there,
And, Courtier-like, to ev'ry one can say,
Thou art the Beautiful and Gay.
V
Be false to all the rest, be only trueTo her, and this I'd have thee do,
Preserve th'Idea of my Saint in store,
'Till I shall see thy Face once more.
VI
Then to thy Shrine a Reverence I'll pay,Like zealous Romans ev'ry Day;
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Because I know the Goddess's there.
VII
But if she's charged thee, thou shouldst not traceThe least Discovery of her Face,
The strict Injunction ne're shall trouble me,
Seeing ye're both Hypocrisie.
| Poems Upon Several Occasions | |