 | Poems (1872) |  |
247
A PARADOX.
Who soe termes Loue a fire, may like a poet
Ffaine what hee will, for certaine cannot showe it;
Ffor ffire nere burnes but when the fuell's neare,
But Loue doth at most distance most appeare:
Yet out of fire water did neuer goe,
But teares from Loue abundantly doe flowe;
Ffire still mounts vpward, but Loue oft descendeth;
Ffire leaues the midst, Loue to the center tendeth;
Ffire dryes & hardens, Loue doth mollifie;
Ffire doth consume, but Loue doth fructifie.
Ffaine what hee will, for certaine cannot showe it;
Ffor ffire nere burnes but when the fuell's neare,
But Loue doth at most distance most appeare:
Yet out of fire water did neuer goe,
But teares from Loue abundantly doe flowe;
Ffire still mounts vpward, but Loue oft descendeth;
Ffire leaues the midst, Loue to the center tendeth;
Ffire dryes & hardens, Loue doth mollifie;
Ffire doth consume, but Loue doth fructifie.
The powerfull Queen of Loue (faire Venus) came
Descended from the Sea, not from the flame;
Whence passions ebbe & flowe, & from the braine
Run to the hart, like streames, and back againe;
Yea Loue oft fills men's breasts wth melting snowe,
Drowning their loue-sick minds in flouds of woe.
What, is Loue water, then? it may be soe:
But hee saith truest yt saith hee doth not knowe.
Descended from the Sea, not from the flame;
Whence passions ebbe & flowe, & from the braine
Run to the hart, like streames, and back againe;
Yea Loue oft fills men's breasts wth melting snowe,
Drowning their loue-sick minds in flouds of woe.
What, is Loue water, then? it may be soe:
But hee saith truest yt saith hee doth not knowe.
| Poems (1872) | |