Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE LURE by JOHN HALL (1627-1656)

First Line: FAREWELL! NAY, PRITHEE TURN AGAIN
Last Line: WHEN BREASTS THEMSELVES AGREE.
Subject(s): LOVE;
I
FAREWELL! Nay, prithee turn again;
Rather than lose thee I'll arraign
Myself before thee! thou (most fair!) shall be
Thyself the judge:
I'll never grudge
A law ordained by thee.

II

Pray do but see how every rose
A sanguine visage doth disclose;
O! see what aromatic gusts they breathe;
Come, here we'll sit,
And learn to knit
Them up into a wreath.

III

With that wreath crowned shalt thou be;
Not graced by it, but it by thee;
Then shall the fawning zephyrs wait to hear
What thou shalt say,
And softly play,
While news to me they bear.

IV

See how they revelling appear
Within the windings of thy hair,
See how they steal the choicest odours from
The balmy spring,
That they may bring
Them to thee, when they come.

V

Look how the daffodils arise,
Cheer'd by the influence of thine eyes,
And others emulating them deny;
They cannot strain
To bloom again,
Where such strong beams do fly.

VI

Be not ungrateful, but lie down,
Since for thy sake so brisk they're grown,
And such a downy carpet have bespread,
That pure delight
Is freshly dight
And trick'd in white and red.

VII

Be conquer'd by such charms, there shall
Not always such enticements fall;
What know we, whether that rich spring of light
Will stanch his streams
Of golden beams,
Ere the approach of night.

VIII

How know we whether 't shall not be
The last to either thee or me?
He can at will his ancient brightness gain;
But thou and I,
When we shall die,
Shall still in dust remain.

IX

Come, prithee come, we'll now essay
To piece the scant'ness of the day,
We'll pluck the wheels from th' chariot of the sun,
That he may give
Us time to live,
Till that our scene be done.

X

W' are in the blossom of our age,
Let us dance o'er, not tread the stage;
Though fear and sorrow strive to pull us back,
And still present
Doubts of content,
They shall not make us slack.

XI

We'll suffer viperous thoughts and cares
To follow after silver hairs;
Let's not anticipate them long before,
When they begin
To enter in,
Each minute they'll grow more.

XII

No, no, Romira, see this brook,
How 't would its posting course revoke,
Ere it shall in the ocean mingled lie;
And what, I pray,
May cause this stay,
But to attest our joy?

XIII

Far be 't from lust; such wildfire ne'er
Shall dare to lurk or kindle here;
Diviner flames shall in our fancies roll,
Which not depress
To earthliness,
But elevate the soul.

XIV

Then shall aggrandiz'd love confess
That souls can mingle substances,
That hearts can eas'ly counterchanged be,
Or at the least
Can alter breasts,
When breasts themselves agree.



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