Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE SURPRISE, by CAREW RALEIGH


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE SURPRISE, by                    
First Line: Careless of love, and free from fears
Last Line: Where gods themselves conspire her flame.
Subject(s): Surprise


CARELESS of love, and free from fears,
I sate and gazed on Stella's eyes,
Thinking my reason, or my years,
Might keep me safe from all surprise.

But Love that hath been long despised,
And made the Baud to others trust,
Finding his deity surprised,
And changed into degenerate lust,

Summoned up all his strength and power,
Making her face his magazine,
Where Virtue's grace and Beauty's flower
He placed his godhead to redeem.

So that too late—alas—I find
No steeled armour is of proof,
Nor can the best resolved mind
Resist her beauty and her youth.

But yet the folly to untwist,
That loving I deserve no blame;
Were it not Atheism to resist
Where gods themselves conspire her flame.





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