I. O FAIR! O purest! be thou the dove, That flies alone to some sunny grove; And lives unseen, and bathes her wing, All vestal white, in the limpid spring. There, if the hovering hawk be near, That limpid spring in its mirror clear Reflects him, ere he can reach his prey, And warns the timorous bird away. Oh! be like this dove; O fair! O purest! be like this dove. II. The sacred pages of God's own Book Shall be the spring, the eternal brook, In whose holy mirror, night and day, Thou wilt study heaven's reflected ray: -- And should the foes of virtue dare, With gloomy wing to seek thee there, Thou wilt see how dark their shadows lie Between heaven and thee, and trembling fly! Oh! be like the dove; O fair! O purest! be like the dove. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...CHILD AND MOTHER by EUGENE FIELD EPITAPH ON ELIZABETH, L.H. by BEN JONSON THE CLOISTER OF THE FALLING SNOW by SYLVIA HORTENSE BLISS FLAME LILIES by CHRISTINE F. BRONSON IN FREIBURG STATION by RUPERT BROOKE TO THE MOST SCARED QUEEN ANNE by THOMAS CAMPION |