Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, ANSWER TO 'THE UNION' BY WILLIAM FAIRFAX, by THOMAS STANLEY


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ANSWER TO 'THE UNION' BY WILLIAM FAIRFAX, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: If we are one, dear friend! Why shouldst thou be
Last Line: And her due wreath doth in renouncing claim.


IF we are one, dear friend! why shouldst thou be
At once unequal to thyself and me?
By thy release thou swell'st my debt the more,
And dost but rob thyself to make me poor.
What part can I have in thy luminous cone?
What flame, since my love's thine, can call my own?
The palest star is less the son of night,
Who, but thy borrow'd, know no native light:
Was't not enough thou freely didst bestow
The Muse, but thou wouldst give the laurel too?
And twice my aims by thy assistance raise,
Conferring first the merit, then the praise?
But I should do thee greater injury,
Did I believe this praise were meant to me,
Or thought, though thou hast worth enough to spare,
T' enrich another soul, that mine should share.
Thy Muse, seeming to lend, calls home her fame,
And her due wreath doth in renouncing claim.





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