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 poetical works of Thomas Traherne |  |
Solitude.
How desolate!
Ah! how forlorn, how sadly did I stand
When in the field my woful State
I felt! Not all the Land,
Not all the Skies,
Tho Heven shin'd before mine Eys,
Could Comfort yield in any Field to me,
Nor could my Mind Contentment find or see.
Ah! how forlorn, how sadly did I stand
When in the field my woful State
I felt! Not all the Land,
Not all the Skies,
Tho Heven shin'd before mine Eys,
Could Comfort yield in any Field to me,
Nor could my Mind Contentment find or see.
Remov'd from Town,
From People, Churches, Feasts, and Holidays,
The Sword of State, the Mayor's Gown,
And all the Neighb'ring Boys;
As if no Kings
On Earth there were, or living Things,
The silent Skies salute mine Eys, the Seas
My Soul surround; no Rest I found, or Eas.
From People, Churches, Feasts, and Holidays,
The Sword of State, the Mayor's Gown,
And all the Neighb'ring Boys;
123
On Earth there were, or living Things,
The silent Skies salute mine Eys, the Seas
My Soul surround; no Rest I found, or Eas.
My roving Mind
Search'd evry Corner of the spacious Earth,
From Sky to Sky, if it could find,
(But found not) any Mirth:
Not all the Coasts,
Nor all the great and glorious Hosts,
In Hev'n or Earth, did any Mirth afford;
No welcom Good or needed Food, my Board.
Search'd evry Corner of the spacious Earth,
From Sky to Sky, if it could find,
(But found not) any Mirth:
Not all the Coasts,
Nor all the great and glorious Hosts,
In Hev'n or Earth, did any Mirth afford;
No welcom Good or needed Food, my Board.
I do believ,
The Ev'ning being shady and obscure,
The very Silence did me griev,
And Sorrow more procure:
A secret Want
Did make me think my Fortune scant.
I was so blind, I could not find my Health,
No Joy mine Ey could there espy, nor Wealth.
The Ev'ning being shady and obscure,
The very Silence did me griev,
And Sorrow more procure:
A secret Want
Did make me think my Fortune scant.
I was so blind, I could not find my Health,
No Joy mine Ey could there espy, nor Wealth.
Nor could I ghess
What kind of thing I long'd for: But that I
Did somwhat lack of Blessedness,
Beside the Earth and Sky,
I plainly found;
It griev'd me much, I felt a Wound
Perplex me sore; yet what my Store should be
I did not know, nothing would shew to me.
What kind of thing I long'd for: But that I
Did somwhat lack of Blessedness,
Beside the Earth and Sky,
I plainly found;
It griev'd me much, I felt a Wound
Perplex me sore; yet what my Store should be
I did not know, nothing would shew to me.
Ye sullen Things!
Ye dumb, ye silent Creatures, and unkind!
How can I call you Pleasant Springs
Unless ye eas my Mind!
Will ye not speak
What 'tis I want, nor Silence break?
O pity me, and let me see som Joy;
Som Kindness shew to me, altho a Boy.
Ye dumb, ye silent Creatures, and unkind!
How can I call you Pleasant Springs
Unless ye eas my Mind!
124
What 'tis I want, nor Silence break?
O pity me, and let me see som Joy;
Som Kindness shew to me, altho a Boy.
They silent stood;
Nor Earth, nor Woods, nor Hills, nor Brooks, nor Skies,
Would tell me where the hidden Good,
Which I did long for, lies:
The shady Trees,
The Ev'ning dark, the humming Bees,
The chirping Birds, mute Springs and Fords, conspire,
While they deny to answer my Desire.
Nor Earth, nor Woods, nor Hills, nor Brooks, nor Skies,
Would tell me where the hidden Good,
Which I did long for, lies:
The shady Trees,
The Ev'ning dark, the humming Bees,
The chirping Birds, mute Springs and Fords, conspire,
While they deny to answer my Desire.
Bells ringing I
Far off did hear, som Country Church they spake;
The Noise re-ecchoing throu the Sky
My Melancholy brake;
When't reacht mine Ear
Som Tidings thence I hop'd to hear:
But not a Bell me News could tell, or shew
My longing Mind, where Joys to find, or know.
Far off did hear, som Country Church they spake;
The Noise re-ecchoing throu the Sky
My Melancholy brake;
When't reacht mine Ear
Som Tidings thence I hop'd to hear:
But not a Bell me News could tell, or shew
My longing Mind, where Joys to find, or know.
I griev'd the more,
'Caus I therby somwhat encorag'd was
That I from thence should learn my Store;
For Churches are a place
That nearer stand
Than any part of all the Land
To Hev'n; from whence som little Sense I might
To help my Mind receiv, and find som Light.
'Caus I therby somwhat encorag'd was
That I from thence should learn my Store;
For Churches are a place
That nearer stand
Than any part of all the Land
To Hev'n; from whence som little Sense I might
To help my Mind receiv, and find som Light.
They louder sound
Than men do talk, somthing they should disclose;
The empty Sound did therfore wound
Becaus not shew Repose.
It did revive
To think that Men were there alive;
But had my Soul, call'd by the Toll, gon in,
I might have found, to eas my Wound, a Thing.
Than men do talk, somthing they should disclose;
The empty Sound did therfore wound
Becaus not shew Repose.
125
To think that Men were there alive;
But had my Soul, call'd by the Toll, gon in,
I might have found, to eas my Wound, a Thing.
A little Eas
Perhaps, but that might more molest my Mind;
One flatt'ring Drop would more diseas
My Soul with Thirst, and grind
My Heart with grief:
For People can yield no Relief
In publick sort when in that Court they shine,
Except they mov my Soul with Lov divine.
Perhaps, but that might more molest my Mind;
One flatt'ring Drop would more diseas
My Soul with Thirst, and grind
My Heart with grief:
For People can yield no Relief
In publick sort when in that Court they shine,
Except they mov my Soul with Lov divine.
Th' External Rite,
Altho the face be wondrous sweet and fair,
Can satiate my Appetit
No more than empty Air
Yield solid Food.
Must I the best and highest Good
Seek to possess; or Blessedness in vain
(Tho 'tis alive in som place) strive to gain?
Altho the face be wondrous sweet and fair,
Can satiate my Appetit
No more than empty Air
Yield solid Food.
Must I the best and highest Good
Seek to possess; or Blessedness in vain
(Tho 'tis alive in som place) strive to gain?
O! what would I
Diseased, wanting, melancholy, giv
To find that tru Felicity,
The place where Bliss doth liv?
Those Regions fair
Which are not lodg'd in Sea nor Air,
Nor Woods, nor Fields, nor Arbour yields, nor Springs,
Nor Hev'ns shew to us below, nor Kings.
Diseased, wanting, melancholy, giv
To find that tru Felicity,
The place where Bliss doth liv?
Those Regions fair
Which are not lodg'd in Sea nor Air,
Nor Woods, nor Fields, nor Arbour yields, nor Springs,
Nor Hev'ns shew to us below, nor Kings.
I might hav gon
Into the City, Market, Tavern, Street,
Yet only chang'd my Station,
And strove in vain to meet
That Eas of Mind
Which all alone I long'd to find:
A common Inn doth no such thing betray,
Nor doth it walk in Peeple's Talk, or Play.
Into the City, Market, Tavern, Street,
Yet only chang'd my Station,
And strove in vain to meet
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Which all alone I long'd to find:
A common Inn doth no such thing betray,
Nor doth it walk in Peeple's Talk, or Play.
O Eden fair!
Where shall I seek the Soul of Holy Joy
Since I to find it here despair;
Nor in the shining Day,
Nor in the Shade,
Nor in the Field, nor in a Trade
I can it see? Felicity! O where
Shall I thee find to eas my Mind! O where!
Where shall I seek the Soul of Holy Joy
Since I to find it here despair;
Nor in the shining Day,
Nor in the Shade,
Nor in the Field, nor in a Trade
I can it see? Felicity! O where
Shall I thee find to eas my Mind! O where!
| The poetical works of Thomas Traherne | |