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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


SONG by JOHN HALL (1627-1656)

First Line: DISTIL NOT POISON IN MINE EARS
Last Line: YET ON HER CRYSTAL COUCH STILL LIE.

DISTIL not poison in mine ears,
Aerial Syrens! nor untie
These sable fetters: yonder spheres
Dance to a silent harmony.

Could I but follow where you lead,
Disrob'd of earth and plum'd by air,
Then I my tenuous self might spread,
As quick as fancy everywhere.

But I'll make sallies now and then:
Thus can my unconfined eye
Take journey and return again;
Yet on her crystal couch still lie.



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