STOP the chafed boar, or play With the lion's paw, yet fear From the lover's side to tear Th' idol of his soul away. Though love enter by the sight To the heart, it doth not fly From the mind, when from the eye The fair objects take their flight. But since want provokes desire, When we lose what we before Have enjoy'd, as we want more, So is love more set on fire. Love doth with an hungry eye Glut on beauty; and you may Safer snatch the tiger's prey, Than his vital food deny. Yet though absence for a space Sharpen the keen appetite, Long continuance doth quite All love's characters efface: For the sense not fed denies Nourishment unto the mind, Which with expectation pin'd, Love of a consumption dies. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...DOMESDAY BOOK: THE CONVENT by EDGAR LEE MASTERS RUINES OF ROME by JOACHIM DU BELLAY ABSALOM AND ACHITOPHEL by JOHN DRYDEN IN THE VALLEY OF CAUTERETZ by ALFRED TENNYSON A HEART-HAUNTED HOME by JANE BARLOW |