Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, BEING WAKED OF MY SLEEP BY A SNUFF OF CANDLE WHICH OFFENDED ME, by HENRY KING (1592-1669)


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

BEING WAKED OF MY SLEEP BY A SNUFF OF CANDLE WHICH OFFENDED ME, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Perhaps 'twas but conceit. Erroneous sense!
Last Line: And kindle them to an eternal flame.
Subject(s): Candles


PERHAPS 'twas but conceit. Erroneous sense!
Thou art thine own distemper and offence.
Imagine then, that sick unwholesome steam
Was thy corruption breath'd into a dream.
Nor is it strange, when we in charnels dwell,
That all our thoughts of earth and frailty smell.

Man is a Candle, whose unhappy light
Burns in the day, and smothers in the night.
And as you see the dying taper waste,
By such degrees does he to darkness haste.

Here is the diff'rence: When our bodies' lamps
Blinded by age, or chok'd with mortal damps,
Now faint, and dim, and sickly 'gin to wink,
And in their hollow sockets lowly sink;
When all our vital fires ceasing to burn,
Leave nought but snuff and ashes in our urn:
God will restore those fallen lights again,
And kindle them to an eternal flame.





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