Classic and Contemporary Poetry
A MEDITATION UPON HIS WAX CANDLE BURNING OUT, by EDWARD HERBERT Poet's Biography First Line: While thy ambitious flame doth strive for height Last Line: Where faithful loving souls with joys are crown'd. Alternate Author Name(s): Cherbury, 1st Baron Herbert Of; Herbert Of Cherbury, Edward Herbert, 1st Baron; Herbert Of Cherbury, Lord Subject(s): Candles | ||||||||
WHILE thy ambitious flame doth strive for height, Yet burneth down, as clogged with the weight Of earthly parts to which thou art combin'd, Thou still dost grow more short of thy desire, And dost in vain unto that place aspire To which thy native powers seem inclin'd. Yet when at last thou com'st to be dissolv'd, And to thy proper principles resolv'd, And all that made thee now is discompos'd, Though thy terrestrial part in ashes lies, Thy more sublime to higher regions flies, The rest b'ing to the middle ways expos'd. And while thou doest thyself each-where disperse, Some parts of thee make up this universe, Others a kind of dignity obtain, Since thy pure wax, in its own flame consum'd, Volumes of incense sends, in which perfum'd Thy smoke mounts where thy fire could not attain. Much more our souls then, when they go from hence, And back unto the elements dispense All that built up our frail and earthly frame, Shall through each pore and passage make their breach, Till they with all their faculties do reach Unto that place from whence at first they came. Nor need they fear thus to be thought unkind To those poor carcases they leave behind, Since, being in unequal parts commix'd, Each in his element their place will get; And who thought elements unhappy yet, As long as they were in their stations fix'd? Or if they salli'd forth, is there not light And heat in some, and spirit prone to fight? Keep they not, in the earth and air, the field? Besides, have they not pow'r to generate, When, more than meteors, they stars create, Which while they last scarce to the brightest yield? That so in them we more than once may live, While these materials which here did give Our bodies essence, and are most of use, Quick'ned again by the world's common soul, Which in itself and in each part is whole, Can various forms in divers kinds produce. If then, at worst, this our condition be, When to themselves our elements are free, And each doth to its proper place revert, What may we not hope from our part divine, Which can this dross of elements refine, And them unto a better state assert? Or if as cloy'd upon this earthly stage, Which represents nothing but change or age, Our souls would all their burdens here divest, They singly may that glorious state acquire, Which fills alone their infinite desire To be of perfect happiness possess'd. And therefore I, who do not live and move By outward sense so much as faith and love, Which is not in inferior creatures found, May unto some immortal state pretend, Since by these wings I thither may ascend, Where faithful loving souls with joys are crown'd. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE CANDLE by KATHERINE MANSFIELD SAVING TALLOW by BARBARA GUEST RIDDLE: A CANDLE by MOTHER GOOSE WORDLY WISE (5) by MOTHER GOOSE BLESSING THE LIGHTS by ALTER ABELSON I LIFT MY CANDLE by ELLEN ANDERSON AN ODE UPON A QUESTION WHETHER LOVE SHOULD CONTINUE FOREVER by EDWARD HERBERT DITTY IN IMITATION OF THE SPANISH: ENTRE TANTO QUE L'AVRIL by EDWARD HERBERT EPITAPH FOR SIR PHILIP SIDNEY, AT ST. PAUL'S WITHOUT A MONUMENT ... by EDWARD HERBERT |
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