I O nectar! O delicious stream! O ravishing and only pleasure! Where Shall such another theme Inspire my tongue with joys, or please mine ear! Abridgement of delights! And queen of sights! O mine of rarities! O kingdom wide! O more! O cause of all! O glorious bride! O God! O bride of God! O king! O soul and crown of everything! 2 Did not I covet to behold Some endless monarch, that did always live In palaces of gold, Willing all kingdoms, realms, and crowns to give Unto my soul! Whose love A spring might prove Of endless glories, honours, friendships, pleasures, Joys, praises, beauties, and celestial treasures! Lo, now I see there's such a King, The fountainhead of everything! 3 Did my ambition ever dream Of such a Lord, of such a love! Did I Expect so sweet a stream As this at any time! Could any eye Believe it? Why, all power Is used here Joys down from Heaven on my head to shower, And Jove beyond the fiction doth appear Once more in golden rain to come To Danae's pleasing fruitful womb. 4 His Ganymede! His life! His joy! Or He comes down to me, or takes me up That I might be His boy, And fill, and taste, and give, and drink the cup. But these (tho great) are all Too short and small, Too weak and feeble pictures to express The true mysterious depths of blessedness. I am His image, and His friend. His son, bride, glory, temple, end. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SONNET: 9 by JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL SMOKE IN WINTER by HENRY DAVID THOREAU SONNET: EUTERPE by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH A VISION OF CHILDREN by THOMAS ASHE SONNET: 12 by RICHARD BARNFIELD SPIRITUAL WORSHIP by BERNARD BARTON DENNER'S OLD WOMAN by VINCENT BOURNE |