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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


TO MY RIVAL by THOMAS CAREW

Poet Analysis

First Line: HENCE, VAIN INTRUDER, HASTE AWAY!
Last Line: SERVANT TO HER, RIVAL WITH ME.
Subject(s): ENEMIES; LOVE;

HENCE, vain intruder, haste away!
Wash not with thy unhallow'd brine
The footsteps of my Celia's shrine;
Nor on her purer altars lay
Thy empty words, accents that may
Some looser dame to love incline:
She must have offerings more divine;
Such pearly drops as youthful May
Scatters before the rising day;
Such smooth soft language, as each line
Might stroke an angry god, or stay
Jove's thunder, make the hearers pine
With envy: do this, thou shalt be
Servant to her, rival with me.



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