Classic and Contemporary Poetry
COWLEY: THE GARDEN, by ALEXANDER POPE Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Fain would my muse the flow'ry treasures sing Last Line: And winter's coolness spite of summer's rays. Subject(s): Cowley, Abraham (1618-1667); Gardens & Gardening | ||||||||
Fain would my Muse the flow'ry Treasures sing, And humble glories of the youthful Spring; Where opening Roses breathing sweets diffuse, And soft Carnations show'r their balmy dews; Where Lillies smile in virgin robes of white, The thin Undress of superficial Light, And vary'd Tulips show so dazling gay, Blushing in bright diversities of day. Each painted flouret in the lake below Surveys its beauties, whence its beauties grow; And pale Narcissus on the bank, in vain Transformed, gazes on himself again. Here aged trees Cathedral walks compose, And mount the Hill in venerable rows: There the green Infants in their beds are laid, The Garden's Hope, and its expected shade. Here Orange-trees with blooms and pendants shine, And vernal honours to their autumn join; Exceed their promise in the ripen'd store, Yet in the rising blossom promise more. There in bright drops the crystal Fountains play, By Laurels shielded from the piercing Day: Where Daphne, now a tree as once a maid, Still from Apollo vindicates her shade, Still turns her beauties from th' invading beam, Nor seeks in vain for succour to the Stream. The stream at once preserves her virgin leaves, At once a shelter from her boughs receives, Where Summer's beauty midst of Winter stays, And Winter's Coolness spite of Summer's rays. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...NOVEMBER GARDEN: AN ELEGY by ANDREW HUDGINS AN ENGLISH GARDEN IN AUSTRIA (SEEN AFTER DER ROSENKAVALIER) by RANDALL JARRELL ACROSS THE BROWN RIVER by GALWAY KINNELL A DESERTED GARDEN by GEORGE LAWRENCE ANDREWS NOT THE SWEET CICELY OF GERARDES HERBALL by MARGARET AVISON AN OLD GARDEN by HERBERT BASHFORD A FAREWELL TO LONDON IN THE YEAR 1715 by ALEXANDER POPE |
|