Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

A SONNET TO OPIUM; CELEBRATING ITS VIRTUES, by                    
First Line: Soul-soothing drug! Your virtues let me laud
Last Line: When maddening rapture goads to my vice my throbbing sense
Alternate Author Name(s): Orestes
Subject(s): Drugs & Drug Abuse;poetry & Poets


SOUL-SOOTHING drug! your virtues let me laud,
Which can with sov'reign sway
Force lawless passion into harmless play!
Oft have I owned your pow'r
In many a moody hour,
When grief with viper-tooth my heart hath gnawed.
Still friendly to the plaintive muse,
You can a balm infuse.
If, sick with hopeless love,
Too tenderly I mourn,
You can the shaft of anguish quick remove;
Or make desire's destructive flame less fiercely burn:
Guardian you are of Julia's innocence,
When madd'ning rapture goads to vice my throbbing sense.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net