Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


JULIA WEEPING by JOHN HALL (1627-1656)

First Line: FAIREST, WHEN THY EYES DID POUR
Last Line: SOFT UNDER WATER, HARD ABOVE.
Subject(s): TEARS;

I

FAIREST, when thy eyes did pour
A crystal shower,
I was persuaded that some stone
Had liquid grown;
And, thus amazed, sure, thought I,
When stones are moist, some rain is nigh.

II

Why weep'st thou? 'cause thou cannot be
More hard to me?
So lionesses pity, so
Do tigers too;
So doth that bird, which when she's fed
On all the man, pines o'er the head.

III

Yet I'll make better omens, till
Event beguile;
Those pearly drops in time shall be
A precious sea;
And thou shall like thy coral prove,
Soft under water, hard above.



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