The poems of William Habington Edited with introduction and commentary by Kenneth Allott |
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To CASTARA,
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 | The poems of William Habington |  |
To CASTARA,
A Vow.
By those chaste lamps which yeeld a silent light,To the cold Vrnes of Virgins; By that night,
Which guilty of no crime, doth onely heare
The Vowes of recluse Nuns, and th' An'chrits prayer;
And by thy chaster selfe; My fervent zeale
Like mountaine yce, which the North winds congeale,
To purest Christall, feeles no wanton fire.
But as the humble Pilgrim, (whose desire
Blest in Christs cottage view, by Angels hands,
Transported from sad Bethlem,) wondring stands
At the great miracle: So I at thee,
Whose beauty is the shrine of chastity.
Thus my bright Muse in a new orbe shall move,
And even teach Religion how to love.
| The poems of William Habington | |