Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ANOTHER SONNET TO BLACK IT SELF by EDWARD HERBERT

First Line: THOU BLACK, WHEREIN ALL COLOURS ARE COMPOS'D
Last Line: ALL REVELATION UNTO MAN DENIES.
Subject(s): BLACK (COLOR);
THOU Black, wherein all colours are compos'd,
And unto which they all at last return;
Thou colour of the sun where it doth burn,
And shadow where it cools; in thee is clos'd
Whatever Nature can, or hath dispos'd
In any other hue: from thee do rise
Those tempers and complexions which, disclos'd
As parts of thee, do work as mysteries
Of that thy hidden power; when thou dost reign,
The characters of fate shine in the skies,
And tell us what the Heavens do ordain:
But when earth's common light shines to our eyes,
Thou so retir'st thyself that thy disdain
All revelation unto man denies.



Home: PoetryExplorer.net