Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


A SONNET. LOVE'S CONTRARIETY by PHILIP AYRES

First Line: I MAKE NO WAR, AND YET NO PEACE HAVE FOUND
Last Line: BOTH LIFE AND DEATH DO EQUALLY DISPLEASE.
Subject(s): LOVE - COMPLAINTS;

I MAKE no war, and yet no peace have found,
With heat I melt, when starv'd to death with cold.
I soar to Heav'n, while grovelling on the ground,
Embrace the world, yet nothing do I hold.

I'm not confin'd, yet cannot I depart,
Nor loose the chain, tho' not a captive led;
Love kills me not, yet wounds me to the heart,
Will neither have m' alive, nor have me dead.

Being blind, I see; not having voice, I cry:
I wish for Death, while I of Life make choice;
I hate myself, yet love you tenderly;
Do feed of tears, and in my grief rejoice.

Thus, Cynthia, all my health is but disease;
Both life and death do equally displease.



Home: PoetryExplorer.net