UNLESS there were consent 'twixt hell and heaven That grace and wickedness should be combined, I cannot make thee and thy beauties even: Thy face is heaven, and torture in thy mind, For more than worldly bliss is in thy eye And hellish torture in thy mind doth lie. A thousand Cherubims fly in her looks, And hearts in legions melt upon their view: But gorgeous covers wall up filthy books; Be it sin to say, that so your eyes do you: But sure your mind adheres not with your eyes, For what they promise, that your heart denies. But, O, lest I religion should misuse, Inspire me thou, that ought'st thyself to know (Since skilless readers reading do abuse), What inward meaning outward sense doth show: For by thy eyes and heart, chose and contemned. I waver, whether saved or condemned. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...MORNING, NOON AND NIGHT by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON SHE WEEPS OVER RAHOON by JAMES JOYCE TO A FRIEND IN THE MAKING by MARIANNE MOORE YOU ARE FIRE EATERS by MARIANNE MOORE THE POET'S TESTAMENT by GEORGE SANTAYANA THE DIORAMA PAINTER AT THE MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY by KAREN SWENSON |