Thomas Carew (1595?-by 1640)
Ingrateful Beauty Threatened
1Know Celia, since thou art so proud,
2 'Twas I that gave thee thy renown;
3Thou hadst, in the forgotten crowd
4 Of common beauties, liv'd unknown,
5Had not my verse exhal'd thy name,
6And with it imp'd the wings of fame.
7That killing power is none of thine,
8 I gave it to thy voice, and eyes;
9Thy sweets, thy graces, all are mine;
10 Thou art my star, shin'st in my skies;
11Then dart not from thy borrow'd sphere
12Lightning on him that fix'd thee there.
13Tempt me with such affrights no more,
14 Lest what I made, I uncreate;
15Let fools thy mystic forms adore,
16 I'll know thee in thy mortal state;
17Wise poets that wrapp'd Truth in tales,
18Knew her themselves, through all her veils.
Notes
6] imp'd: repaired, from the practice (in falconry) of grafting new feathers to an injured falcon's wing.
15] mystic forms: i.e., her supernatural soul, the soul being the "form" of the body.
Online text copyright © 2009, Ian Lancashire (the Department of English) and the University of Toronto.
Published by the Web Development Group, Information Technology Services, University of Toronto Libraries.
Original text: Thomas Carew, Poems (J. D. for T. Walkley, 1640). STC 4620.
First publication date:
1640
RPO poem editor: N. J. Endicott
RP edition: 3RP 1.219.
Recent editing: 4:2002/2/7
Rhyme: ababcc
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