DELAY; UPON ADVICE TO DEFER LOVE'S CONSUMMATION by WILLIAM HAMMOND

DELAY, whose parents Phlegm and Slumber are,
Thinkst thou two snails, drawing thy leaden car,
Can keep pace with the fiery wheels of Love's
Chariot, that receives motion from swift doves?
Go visit Fevers, such as conscience rack
With fear of punishment in death; there slack
The pulse, or dwell upon the fatal tongues
Of Judges, shut up their contagious lungs:
Thou mayst a gaol rejoice, but not decree
To Love's glad prisoners a jubilee.
How canst thou think thy frost with icy laws
Can bind my tears, when Love thy cold chain thaws?
He more intense for fighting ice will be,
And raise his heat unto the eighth degree.
Thus through thy coldness I shall fiercer burn,
And by thy winter into cinders turn.
But since from Ignorance fears oft arise,
And thence are stol'n unequal victories,
Let us describe this foe, muster his force:
A handless thing it is, and chills the source
Of brave attempts. Eyes he pretends too much,
Yet our experience often shows that such
Exactness in surveying opes a gate
To be surpris'd by Semele's sad fate.
'Tis a mere trunk, hath not for progress feet;
Coward that fears his own desires to meet.
His friends are scarce; the Heavens, whose flight debates
The race with thought, are no confederates:
The world is love in act; suspend this fire,
The globe to its old Chaos will retire:
Infernal souls, but for his loathed stay,
Might hope their night would open into day.
How can this cripple then, not with one band,
Aided by Earth, Heaven, Hell, his power withstand,
Who hath of Earth, Heaven, Hell, the forces broke,
Impos'd on Neptune's self his scorching yoke?
But if thou need'st will haunt me, let thy mace
Arrest delight, when I my Love embrace.

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!

Other Poems of Interest...