Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, SEEING HIS OWN PICTURE, by PHILIP AYRES


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

SEEING HIS OWN PICTURE, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: This, which the shadow of my face does give
Last Line: Destroys my labours, and so blasts my bays.
Subject(s): Self


THIS, which the shadow of my face does give,
Whose counterfeit seems true, and Art alive,
Shows but the part of man's infirmity,
Which to Age subject, must decay, and die;

Yet the internal Nature's excellence,
Which does this earthly shadow influence,
Perhaps some image may on paper draw,
Whose essence ne'er of Time shall stand in awe:

For by my Muse's help I hope to build
Such monuments, as ne'er to Time shall yield;
Better than from these colours can be had,
And to my years, shall greater numbers add.

But when some noble work I enterprise,
That might advance my honour to the skies;
My envious Fortune strikes a thousand ways,
Destroys my labours, and so blasts my bays.





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