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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


ON ONE, WHO SAID, HE DRANK TO CLEAR HIS EYES by CHARLES COTTON

Poet Analysis

First Line: AS PHOEBUS, CRAWLING TO HIS WESTERN SEAT
Last Line: HE'D SCAP'D THE TREE, AND DRUNK TO CLEAR HIS EYES.
Subject(s): ALCOHOLISM & ALCOHOLICS; DRUNKARDS; ALCOHOL ABUSE;

As Phoebus, crawling to his Western seat,
His shining face bedew'd with beamy sweat,
His flaming eyes at last grown blood-shot red,
By atoms sprung from his hot horses' speed,
Drives to that sea-green bosom of his Love's,
And in her lap his fainting light improves;

So Thyrsis, when at th' unresisted flame
Of thy fair Mistress's eye, thine dull became,
In sovereign sack thou did'st an eye-salve seek,
And stol'st a blest dew from her rosy cheek:
When straight thy lids a cheerful vigour wore,
More quick and penetrating than before.

I saw the sprightly grape in glory rise,
And with her day thy drooping night surprise,
So that, where now a giddy darkness dwells,
Brightness now breaks through liquid spectacles.

Had Adam known this cure in Paradise,
He'd scap'd the Tree, and drunk to clear his eyes.



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