Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, A MEDITATION UPON HIS WAX CANDLE BURNING OUT, by EDWARD HERBERT


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

A MEDITATION UPON HIS WAX CANDLE BURNING OUT, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: While thy ambitious flame doth strive for height
Last Line: Where faithful loving souls with joys are crown'd.
Alternate Author Name(s): Cherbury, 1st Baron Herbert Of; Herbert Of Cherbury, Edward Herbert, 1st Baron; Herbert Of Cherbury, Lord
Subject(s): Candles


WHILE thy ambitious flame doth strive for height,
Yet burneth down, as clogged with the weight
Of earthly parts to which thou art combin'd,
Thou still dost grow more short of thy desire,
And dost in vain unto that place aspire
To which thy native powers seem inclin'd.

Yet when at last thou com'st to be dissolv'd,
And to thy proper principles resolv'd,
And all that made thee now is discompos'd,
Though thy terrestrial part in ashes lies,
Thy more sublime to higher regions flies,
The rest b'ing to the middle ways expos'd.

And while thou doest thyself each-where disperse,
Some parts of thee make up this universe,
Others a kind of dignity obtain,
Since thy pure wax, in its own flame consum'd,
Volumes of incense sends, in which perfum'd
Thy smoke mounts where thy fire could not attain.

Much more our souls then, when they go from hence,
And back unto the elements dispense
All that built up our frail and earthly frame,
Shall through each pore and passage make their breach,
Till they with all their faculties do reach
Unto that place from whence at first they came.

Nor need they fear thus to be thought unkind
To those poor carcases they leave behind,
Since, being in unequal parts commix'd,
Each in his element their place will get;
And who thought elements unhappy yet,
As long as they were in their stations fix'd?

Or if they salli'd forth, is there not light
And heat in some, and spirit prone to fight?
Keep they not, in the earth and air, the field?
Besides, have they not pow'r to generate,
When, more than meteors, they stars create,
Which while they last scarce to the brightest yield?

That so in them we more than once may live,
While these materials which here did give
Our bodies essence, and are most of use,
Quick'ned again by the world's common soul,
Which in itself and in each part is whole,
Can various forms in divers kinds produce.

If then, at worst, this our condition be,
When to themselves our elements are free,
And each doth to its proper place revert,
What may we not hope from our part divine,
Which can this dross of elements refine,
And them unto a better state assert?

Or if as cloy'd upon this earthly stage,
Which represents nothing but change or age,
Our souls would all their burdens here divest,
They singly may that glorious state acquire,
Which fills alone their infinite desire
To be of perfect happiness possess'd.

And therefore I, who do not live and move
By outward sense so much as faith and love,
Which is not in inferior creatures found,
May unto some immortal state pretend,
Since by these wings I thither may ascend,
Where faithful loving souls with joys are crown'd.





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