IF in me anger, or disdain In you, or both, made me refrain From th' noble intercourse of verse, That only virtuous thoughts rehearse; Then, chaste Ellinda, might you fear The sacred vows that I did swear. But if alone some pious thought Me to an inward sadness brought; Thinking to breathe your soul too well, My tongue was charmed with that spell, And left it (since there was no room To voice your worth enough) strook dumb. So then this silence doth reveal No thought of negligence, but zeal; For, as in adoration, This is love's true devotion: Children and fools the words repeat, But anch'rites pray in tears and sweat. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE SPIRIT AND THE CUP by A. E. ANDERSON ANYWHERE OUT OF THE WORLD by CHARLES BAUDELAIRE QUATORZAINS: 11. A CLOCK STRIKING AT MIDNIGHT by THOMAS LOVELL BEDDOES MALIGNED MORTALITY by WILLIAM ROSE BENET HINC LACHRIMAE; OR THE AUTHOR TO AURORA: 41 by WILLIAM BOSWORTH HADRIAN IN EGYPT by GORDON BOTTOMLEY OLD LADY NECESSITY by BERTON BRALEY SONGS FOR MY MOTHER: 4. HER STORIES by ANNA HEMPSTEAD BRANCH |