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ON THE SUDDEN RESTRAINT OF ROBERT CARR, EARL OF SOMERSET by HENRY WOTTON

Poem Explanation Poet Analysis

First Line: DAZZLED THUS WITH THE HEIGHT OF PLACE
Last Line: BUT PROVES AT NIGHT A BED OF DOWN.
Subject(s): CARR, ROBERT. EARL OF SOMERSET; DISHONOR; ROCHESTER, VISCOUNT (159-1645);
Dazzled thus with height of place,
Whilst our hopes our wits beguile,
No man marks the narrow space
'Twixt a prison and a smile.

Then, since fortune's favors fade,
You, that in her arms do sleep,
Learn to swim and not to wade,
For the hearts of kings are deep.

But if greatness be so blind
As to trust in towers of air,
Let it be with goodness lined,
That at least the fall be fair.

Then, though darkened, you shall say,
When friends frail and princes frown,
Virtue is the roughest way
But proves at night a bed of down.


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