The Poems of Edmund Waller Edited by G. Thorn Drury |
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TO A LADY, FROM WHOM HE RECEIVED A SILVER PEN. |
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The Poems of Edmund Waller | ||
109
TO A LADY, FROM WHOM HE RECEIVED A SILVER PEN.
Madam! intending to have tried
The silver favour which you gave,
In ink the shining point I dyed,
And drenched it in the sable wave;
When, grieved to be so foully stained,
On you it thus to me complained:
The silver favour which you gave,
In ink the shining point I dyed,
And drenched it in the sable wave;
When, grieved to be so foully stained,
On you it thus to me complained:
“Suppose you had deserved to take
From her fair hand so fair a boon,
Yet how deserved I to make
So ill a change, who ever won
Immortal praise for what I wrote,
Instructed by her noble thought?
From her fair hand so fair a boon,
Yet how deserved I to make
So ill a change, who ever won
Immortal praise for what I wrote,
Instructed by her noble thought?
“I, that expressed her commands
To mighty lords, and princely dames,
Always most welcome to their hands,
Proud that I would record their names,
Must now be taught an humble style,
Some meaner beauty to beguile!”
To mighty lords, and princely dames,
Always most welcome to their hands,
Proud that I would record their names,
Must now be taught an humble style,
Some meaner beauty to beguile!”
So I, the wronged pen to please,
Make it my humble thanks express,
Unto your ladyship, in these:
And now 'tis forced to confess
That your great self did ne'er indite,
Nor that, to one more noble, write.
Make it my humble thanks express,
Unto your ladyship, in these:
And now 'tis forced to confess
That your great self did ne'er indite,
Nor that, to one more noble, write.
The Poems of Edmund Waller | ||