VAIN wits and eyes Leave, and be wise: Abuse not, shun not holy fire, But with true tears wash off your mire. Tears and these flames will soon grow kind, And mix an eye-salve for the blind. Tears cleanse and supple without fail, And fire will purge your callous veil, Then comes the light! which when you spy, And see your nakedness thereby, Praise Him, Who dealt His gifts so free In tears to you, in fire to me. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...NEW NEIGHBORHOOD by KAREN SWENSON THIRTY BOB A WEEK by JOHN DAVIDSON THE LORD SPEAKS by KARLE WILSON BAKER THREE PASTORAL ELEGIES: TO THE READER (1) by WILLIAM BASSE ANNIVERSARIUM BAPTISMI (2) by JOSEPH BEAUMONT WHATEVER IS, IS RIGHT by SAMUEL LAMAN BLANCHARD ON THE FUNERAL OF CHARLES I; AT NIGHT, IN ST. GEORGE'S CHAPEL, WINDSOR by WILLIAM LISLE BOWLES |