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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


TO LOVE by THOMAS STANLEY

Poet Analysis

First Line: THOU, WHOSE SOLE NAME ALL PASSIONS DOTH COMPRISE
Last Line: SUSPENDS THIS TABLET AT THY NUMEROUS SHRINE.
Subject(s): LOVE;

THOU, whose sole name all passions doth comprise,
Youngest and oldest of the Deities;
Born without parents, whose unbounded reign
Moves the firm earth, fixeth the floating main,
Inverts the course of heaven; and from the deep
Awakes those souls that in dark Lethe sleep,
By thy mysterious chains seeking t' unite,
Once more, the long-since torn Hermaphrodite.
He, who thy willing pris'ner long was vow'd,
And uncompell'd beneath thy sceptre bow'd,
Returns at last in thy soft fetters bound,
With victory, though not with freedom crown'd:
And, of his dangers pass'd a grateful sign,
Suspends this tablet at thy numerous shrine.



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