I have done one braver thing Than all the Worthies did, And yet a braver thence doth spring. Which is, to keep that hid. It were but madness now t' impart The skill of s[ecular stone, When he which can have learned the art To cut it, can find none. So, if I now should utter this, Others (because no more Such stuff to work upon, there is,) Would love but as before. But he who loveliness within Hath found, all outward loathes, For he who colour loves, and skin, Loves but their oldest clothes. If, as I have, you also do Virtue attited in woman see, And dare love that, and say so too, And forget the He and She; And if this love, though placed so, From profane men you hide, Which will no faith on this bestow, Or, if they do, deride: Then you have done a braver thing Than all the Worthies did, And a braver thence will spring, Which is, to keep that hid. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SONG by WALTHER VON DER VOGELWEIDE A HYMN OF IMAGINATION by GORDON BOTTOMLEY MAUDLIN'S SONG: 2 by GORDON BOTTOMLEY AT ROMEO'S TOMB by AMELIA JOSEPHINE BURR LINES ON LEAVING A SCENE IN BAVARIA by THOMAS CAMPBELL A FOOLISH TONGUE by WILLIAM HENRY DAVIES |