On a Girdle
On a Girdle
Original Text
Edmund Waller, Poems (1645); facs. edn., Poems, 1645, together with poems from Bodleian MS Dond. 55 (Menston: Scolar Press, 1971). PR 3750 A1 1645 AB Robarts Library
1That which her slender waist confin'd,
2Shall now my joyful temples bind;
3No monarch but would give his crown,
4His arms might do what this has done.
7My joy, my grief, my hope, my love,
8Did all within this circle move.
9A narrow compass, and yet there
10Dwelt all that's good, and all that's fair;
11Give me but what this ribbon bound,
12Take all the rest the sun goes round.
Notes
5] extremest sphere: outermost sphere. The metaphor is from the Ptolemaic system of concentric spheres, revolving around the earth. Back to Line
6] pale: enclosure. Back to Line
Publication Start Year
1645
RPO poem Editors
N. J. Endicott
RPO Edition
2RP.1.443; RPO 1996-2000.
Rhyme