Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE WELCOME, by ABRAHAM COWLEY


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE WELCOME, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Go, let the fatted calf be killed
Last Line: Would nere returne, had not the flood been out.
Subject(s): Homecoming


1.

GO, let the fatted Calfe be kill'd
My Prodigall's come home at last,
With noble resolutions fill'd,
And filld with sorrow for the past.
No more will burn with Love or Wine;
But quite has left his Women and his Swine.

2.

Welcome, ah welcome, my poor Heart;
Welcome; I little thought, I'le swear,
('Tis now so long since we did part)
Ever again to see thee here:
Dear wanderer, since from me you fled,
How often have I heard that you were dead!

3.

Hadst thou found each woman's breast
(The Lands where thou hast travelled)
Either by Savages possest,
Or wild, and uninhabited?
What Joy couldst take, or what repose
In countries so unciviliz'd as those?

4.

Lust, the scorching Dog-starre here
Rages with immoderate heat;
Whilst Pride, the rugged Northern Bear,
In others makes the cold too great.
And where these are temperate known,
The Soil's all barren Land, or rocky Stone.

5.

When once or twice you chanc'd to view
A rich, well-govern'd Heart,
Like China, it admitted you
But to the Frontiere-part.
From Paradise shut for evermore,
What good is't that an Angel shut the Door?

6.

Well fare the Pride, and the Disdain,
And Vanities with Beauty joyn'd,
I nere had seen this Heart again,
If any Faire one had been kind:
My Dove, but once let loose, I doubt
Would nere returne, had not the Flood been out.





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