You earthly Souls that court a wanton flame, Whose pale weak influence Can rise no higher then the humble name And narrow laws of Sence, Learn by our friendship to create An immaterial fire, Whose brightnesse Angels may admire, But cannot emulate. Sicknesse may fright the roses from her cheek, Or make the Lilies fade, But all the subtile wayes that death doth seek Cannot my love invade: Flames that are kindled by the eye, Through time and age expire; But ours that boast a reach far higher Can nor decay, nor die. For when we must resign our vital breath, Our Loves by Fate benighted, We by this friendship shall survive in death, Even in divorce united. Weak Love through fortune or distrust In time forgets to burn, But this pursues us to the Urn, And marries either's Dust. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...BISHOP BLOUGRAM'S APOLOGY by ROBERT BROWNING SECOND OPINION by STEPHEN CUSHMAN AFTER A VISIT by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR A SONG FROM THE COPTIC by JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE SOUTHERN PACIFIC by CARL SANDBURG FESTE'S SONG (1), FR. TWELFTH NIGHT by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE A DESCRIPTION OF A CITY SHOWER by JONATHAN SWIFT UNCLE OUT O' DEBT AN' OUT O' DANGER by WILLIAM BARNES THE LAST BALLADE; MASTER FRANCOIS VILLON LOQUITUR by THOMAS BEER |