Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, TO EUGENION; A DESCRIPTION OF THE LOVE OF TRUE FRIENDSHIP, by WILLIAM HAMMOND


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

TO EUGENION; A DESCRIPTION OF THE LOVE OF TRUE FRIENDSHIP, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Man, of a troubled spirit, prone to fight
Last Line: Which parted, to itself again doth fly.
Subject(s): Friendship


MAN, of a troubled spirit, prone to fight,
In fortitude placing too much delight,
Unjustly friendship disinherited,
No dowry to her hath proportioned
Amongst the moral sisters of the will;
Goddess of youth, though she yet should not fill
Their cups, be she none of the wheels, her right
Is in the treasure; draws the appetite
To amiable good; but if the rein
Be held by Prudence, for she guides the wain,
This virtue next inheritrix is she,
Fitted to turn upon that axle-tree;
For lamely would the Will's bright chariot move
If not inform'd by friendly heat of Love,
Whose lightning shoots directly, never bends
Reflecting glances upon private ends.
Indeed her sister, of a bastard race,
Squints on her good, like Venus in her glass;
Mechanic Love, Desire with usury,
Which ne'er is lent but for utility,
Or some return of pleasure to the sense;
A thrifty worldling, hight Concupiscence.
The first a wealthy Queen of generous strain;
The latter indigent, and works for gain;
That, from the bosom of the deity,
Derives the lustre of her pedigree.
Who of this wonder truly is possest,
Hath Heaven's epitome lodg'd in his breast;
This children to their parents give, by this
Perfum'd with frankincense the altar is;
That's gold refined, whose solidity,
The perfect emblem of true constancy,
Being ductile, will consume itself, and pine
Even to small threads to make another fine:
Self-loving this as subtle Mercury,
Which parted, to itself again doth fly.





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