Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, LUCASTA'S FAN, WITH A LOOKING-GLASS IN IT, by RICHARD LOVELACE



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LUCASTA'S FAN, WITH A LOOKING-GLASS IN IT, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Estrich, thou feather'd fool and easy prey
Last Line: If hence she dress herself but in his eyes.
Subject(s): Vanity


ESTRICH, thou feather'd fool and easy prey,
That larger sails to thy broad vessel need'st;
Snakes through thy guttur-neck hiss all the day,
Then on thy iron mess at supper feed'st.

Oh what a glorious transmigration
From this to so divine an edifice
Hast thou straight made! near from a winged stone
Transform'd into a bird of paradise.

Now do thy plumes for hue and lustre vie
With th' arch of heav'n that triumphs o'er past wet,
And in a rich enamell'd pinion lie,
With sapphires, amethysts and opals set.

Sometime they wing her side, then strive to drown
The day's eye's piercing beams, whose am'rous heat
Solicits still, till, with this shield of down,
From her brave face his glowing fires are beat.

But whilst a plumy curtain she doth draw,
A crystal mirror sparkles in thy breast,
In which her fresh aspect whenas she saw,
And then her foe retired to the west,

"Dear engine that o' th' sun got'st me the day,
Spite of his hot assaults mad'st him retreat,
No wind," said she, "dare with thee henceforth play
But mine own breath to cool the tyrant's heat.

"My lively shade thou ever shalt retain
In thy enclosed feather-framed glass,
And, but unto ourselves, to all remain
Invisible, thou feature of this face!"

So said, her sad swain overheard, and cried,
"Ye gods! for faith unstain'd this a reward!
Feathers and glass t' outweigh my virtue tried!
Ah, show their empty strength!" The gods accord

Now fall'n the brittle favourite lies, and burst.
Amaz'd Lucasta weeps, repents, and flies
To her Alexis, vows herself accurs'd
If hence she dress herself but in his eyes.





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