Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, VERSES LOST UPON A WAGER, by ABRAHAM COWLEY


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

VERSES LOST UPON A WAGER, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: As soon hereafter will I wagers lay
Last Line: Till she has paid her customs first to thee.
Subject(s): Gambling; Wagering; Betting


1.

AS soon hereafter will I Wagers lay,
'Gainst what an Oracle shall say:
Fool, that I was, to venture to deny
A Tongue so us'd to Victory!
A Tongue so blest by Nature and by Art,
That never yet it spoke but gain'd an Heart:
Though what you said, had not been true
If spoke by any else but you.
Your Speech will govern Destiny,
And Fate will change rather than you should ly.

2.

'Tis true if Human Reason were the Guide,
Reason, methinks, was on my side;
But that's a Guide, alas, we must resign,
When th' Authority's Divine.
She said, she said her self it would be so;
And I, bold unbeliever, answer'd No.
Never so justly sure before
Error the Name of Blindness bore,
For whatsoe're the Question be,
There's no Man that has eyes would bet for Me.

3.

If Truth it self (as other Angels do
When they descend to humane view)
In a Material Form would daign to shine,
'Twould imitate or borrow Thine,
So daz'ling bright, yet so transparent clear,
So well-proportion'd would the parts appear;
Happy the eye which Truth could see
Cloath'd in a shape like Thee,
But happier far the eye
Which could thy shape naked like Truth espy!

4.

Yet this lost wager costs me nothing more
Than what I owed to thee before.
Who would not venture for that debt to play
Which He were bound howe're to pay?
If Nature gave me power to write in verse,
She gave it me thy praises to reherse.
Thy wondrous Beauty and thy Wit
Has such a Sovereign Right to it,
That no Man's Muse for publick vent is free,
'Till she has paid her Customs first to Thee.





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