Ingrateful Beauty Threatened
Ingrateful Beauty Threatened
Original Text
Thomas Carew, Poems (J. D. for T. Walkley, 1640). STC 4620.
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,
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;
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. Back to Line
15] mystic forms: i.e., her supernatural soul, the soul being the "form" of the body. Back to Line
Publication Start Year
1640
RPO poem Editors
N. J. Endicott
RPO Edition
3RP 1.219.
Rhyme