Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE PERSON, by THOMAS TRAHERNE


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE PERSON, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Ye sacred limbs
Last Line: Shall themes become, and organs of thy praise.
Subject(s): Bodies


1

Ye sacred limbs,
A richer blazon I will lay
On you, than first I found:
That like celestial kings,
Ye might with ornaments of joy
Be always crown'd.
A deep vermilion on a red,
On that a scarlet I will lay,
With gold I'll crown your head,
Which like the sun shall ray.
With robes of glory and delight
I'll make you bright.
Mistake me not, I do not mean to bring
New robes, but to display the thing:
Nor paint, nor clothe, nor crown, nor add a ray,
But glorify by taking all away.

2

The naked things
Are most sublime, and brightest show,
When they alone are seen:
Men's hands than angels' wings
Are truer wealth even here below:
For those but seem.
Their worth they then do best reveal,
When we all metaphors remove,
For metaphors conceal,
And only vapours prove.
They best are blazon'd when we see
The anatomy,
Survey the skin, cut up the flesh, the veins
Unfold: the glory there remains.
The muscles, fibres, arteries, and bones
Are better far than crowns and precious stones.

3

Shall I not then
Delight in these most sacred treasures
Which my great Father gave,
Far more than other men
Delight in gold? Since these are pleasures
That make us brave!
Far braver than the pearl and gold
That glitter on a lady's neck!
The rubies we behold,
The diamonds that deck
The hands of queens, compar'd unto
The hands we view;
The softer lilies, and the roses are
Less ornaments to those that wear
The same, than are the hands, and lips, and eyes
Of those who those false ornaments so prize.

4

Let verity
Be thy delight: let me esteem
True wealth far more than toys:
Let sacred riches be,
While falser treasures only seem,
My real joys.
For golden chains and bracelets are
But gilded manacles, whereby
Old Satan doth ensnare,
Allure, bewitch the eye.
Thy gifts O God alone I'll prize,
My tongue, my eyes,
My cheeks, my lips, my ears, my hands, my feet,
Their harmony is far more sweet;
Their beauty true. And these in all my ways
Shall themes become, and organs of Thy praise.





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