Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, WISDOME, by ABRAHAM COWLEY


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WISDOME, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Tis mighty wise that you would now be thought
Last Line: The art of giving, not of saving lives.
Subject(s): Wisdom


'TIS mighty Wise that you would now be thought
With your grave Rules from musty Morals brought:
Through which some streaks too of Div'nity ran,
Partly of Monke, and partly Puritan;
With tedious Repetitions too you've tane
Often the name of Vanity in vain.
Things, which, I take it, friend, you'd ne'er recite,
Should she I love, but say t' you, Come at night.
The wisest King refus'd all pleasures quite,
'Till Wisdome from above did him enlight;
But when that gifte his ignorance did remove,
Pleasures he chose, and plac'd them all in Love.
And if by event the counsels may be seen,
This wisdome 'twas that brought the Southern Queen.
She came not, like a good old Wife, to know
The wholesome nature of all plants that grow:
Nor did so farre from her own Country rome,
To cure Scal'd heads, and broken shins at home;
She came for that, which more befits all Wives,
The Art of Giving, not of Saving lives.





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