Can I not sin, but thou wilt be My private protonotary? Can I not woo thee to pass by A short and sweet iniquity? I'll cast a mist and cloud upon My delicate transgression, So utter dark, as that no eye Shall see the hugged impiety. Gifts blind the wise, and bribes do please, And wind all other witnesses; And wilt thou not, with gold, be tied To lay thy pen and ink aside? That in the murk and tongueless night, Wanton I may, and thou not write? It will not be; and therefore now, For times to come, I'll make this vow: From aberrations to live free; So I'll not fear the judge or thee. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...STREET LANTERNS by MARY ELIZABETH COLERIDGE ROLL-CALL by NATHANIEL GRAHAM SHEPHERD YARROW REVISITED by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH TO A SISTER OF CHARITY by EDWIN GEORGE ALEXANDER TO A REPUBLICAN FRIEND, 1848, CONTINUED by MATTHEW ARNOLD THE MARCHING FEET by MAXWELL STRUTHERS BURT SONGS OF THE SEA CHILDREN: 45 by BLISS CARMAN SIR THOMAS ERPINGHAM'S SONNET ON HIS LADY by GEORGE COLMAN THE YOUNGER |