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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
ROM. CAP. 8 VER. 19, by HENRY VAUGHAN Poet Analysis Poet's Biography
First Line: And do they so? Have they a sense
Last Line: Thy sheep with thee.
Alternate Author Name(s): Silurist
First Line: And do they so? Have they a sense
Last Line: Thy sheep with thee.
Alternate Author Name(s): Silurist
And do they so? have they a sense
Of ought but influence?
Can they their heads lift, and expect,
And groan too? why th' Elect
Can do no more: my volumes said
They were all dull and dead,
They judged them senseless, and their state
Wholly inanimate.
Go, go; seal up thy looks,
And burn thy books.
2
I would I were a stone, or tree,
Or flower by pedigree,
Or some poor highway herb, or spring
To flow, or bird to sing!
Then should I (tied to one sure state)
All day expect my date;
But I am sadly loose, and stray
A giddy blast each way;
O let me not thus range!
Thou canst not change.
3
Sometimes I sit with thee, and tarry
An hour, or so, then vary.
Thy other creatures in this scene
Thee only aim, and mean;
Some rise to seek thee, and with heads
Erect peep from their beds;
Others, whose birth is in the tomb,
And cannot quit the womb,
Sigh there, and groan for thee,
Their liberty.
4
O let not me do less! shall they
Watch, while I sleep, or play?
Shall I thy mercies still abuse
With fancies, friends, or news?
O brook it not! thy blood is mine,
And my soul should be thine;
O brook it not! why wilt thou stop
After whole showers one drop?
Sure, thou wilt joy to see
Thy sheep with thee.