1. I Know 'tis sordid, and 'tis low; (All this as well as you I know) Which I so hotly now pursue; (I know all this as well as you) But whilst this cursed flesh I bear, And all the Weaknesse, and the Baseness there, Alas, alas, it will be alwaies so. 2. In vain, exceedingly in vain I rage sometimes, and bite my Chaine; For to what purpose do I bite With Teeth, which nere will break it quite? For if the chiefest Christian Head, Was by this sturdy Tyrant buffeted, What wonder is it, if weak I be slain? 3. As when the Sun appears, The Morning Thicknesse clears; So, when my thoughts let sadnesse in, And a new Morning does begin, If my Beautie's piercing ray, Strike through my Trembling Eyes a suddain day; All those grave sullen Vapours melt in Tears away. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...VISIONS: 4. A ROSE by WILLIAM BROWNE (1591-1643) HYSTERIA by THOMAS STEARNS ELIOT EPITAPHS OF THE WAR, 1914-18: BATTERIES OUT OF AMMUNITION by RUDYARD KIPLING HELTER SKELTER; OR, THE HUE AND CRY AFTER THE ATTORNEYS by JONATHAN SWIFT THE REVENGE; A BALLAD OF THE FLEET by ALFRED TENNYSON A MOTHER'S BIRTHDAY by HENRY VAN DYKE THE FLIGHT OF THE GODDESS by CELIA THAXTER |