Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

WRITTEN by MATTHEW PRIOR

First Line: HOWEVER HIGH, HOWEVER COLD, THE FAIR
Last Line: WHO MUST NOT SPEAK, AND THEREFORE CANNOT LIVE!
Subject(s): GRIEF; LOVE; OVID (43 B.C.-17 A.D.); PITY; SORROW; SADNESS;
HOWEVER high, however cold, the fair,
However great the dying lover's care,
Ovid, kind author, found him some relief,
Ranged his unruly sighs, and set his grief;
Taught him what accents had the power to move,
And always gained him pity, sometimes love.
But oh! what pangs torment the destined heart,
That feels the wound, yet dares not show the dart!
What ease could Ovid to his sorrows give,
Who must not speak, and therefore cannot live!



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